Geospiza propinqua
Silhouette: Ryan Cupo · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The Genovesa cactus finch (Geospiza propinqua) is a species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is one of Darwin's finches, and is endemic to the Galápagos islands, Ecuador, where it is restricted to Genovesa Island.
Its natural habitat is dry shrubland and it is commonly seen on the ground. Its main food source is the cactus Opuntia. The large cactus finch is one of Darwin's finches, a group of closely related birds which evolved on the Galápagos Islands. The group is related to the Tiaris grassquits, which are found in South America and the Caribbean. An ancestral relative of those grassquits arrived on the Galápagos Islands some 2–3 million years ago, and the Española cactus finch is one of the species which evolved from that ancestor.
Some taxonomic authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union, have split the species from the Española cactus finch. Others still consider them conspecific. Grant, Peter R.; Grant, B. Rosemary (2008). How and Why Species Multiply: The Radiation of Darwin's Finches. Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13360-7.
Jobling, James A. (2010). Helm Dictionary... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Genovesa Cactus-Finch sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 483 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 64th most-seen of the 114 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Genovesa Cactus-Finch in Galápagos Islands on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months. Those are among Galápagos Islands's driest months, with almost no rain against 50 mm in March.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Genovesa Cactus-Finch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Galápagos Islands, in our data
Galápagos Islands is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Genovesa Cactus-Finch sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Geospiza
The closest relatives of the Genovesa Cactus-Finch that you can see in Galápagos Islands (genus Geospiza, Ground-Finches and Cactus-Finches) are Small Ground-Finch (about 70%), Medium Ground-Finch (about 50%) and Common Cactus-Finch (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Genovesa Cactus-Finch is recorded against all the birds logged in Galápagos Islands (483 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
