Sicalis flaveola
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola) is a tanager from South America that is common in open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon Basin. They have a wide distribution in Colombia, northern Venezuela (where it is called "canario de tejado" or "roof canary"), western Ecuador, western Peru, eastern and southern Brazil (where it is called "canário-da-terra" or "native canary"), Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and Trinidad and Tobago. It has also been introduced to Hawaii, Panama, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and elsewhere. Although commonly regarded as a canary, it is not related to the Atlantic canary. Formerly, it was placed in the Emberizidae but it is close to the seedeaters.
The saffron finch was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla flaveola. The specific epithet is a diminutive of the Latin flavus meaning "golden" or "yellow". The type locality is Suriname. The saffron finch is now placed in the genus Sicalis that was introduced in 1828 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie.
Five subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zürich Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 2 | Parque das Aves | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Zoological Garden of Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Kansas City Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Ukumarí Biopark | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Temaikén | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 9 | Tierpark Hagenbeck | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Parque de las Leyendas | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 13 | Vogelpark Avifauna | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 14 | Reid Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Como Park Zoo and Conservatory | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Como Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Parque de la Conservación | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 18 | Mississippi Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Agroflori Parque de las Aves | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 20 | National Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Texas State Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 23 | Sobela Ocean Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Boston Aquarial Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Very likely
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Saffron Finch sighting in Serra da Canastra National Park on a given day, based on 591 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 294 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–April, June, August and October
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Saffron Finch in Serra da Canastra National Park on a given day, against about 60% in July, the lowest month.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Saffron 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.
Yes
Of the 30 parks where we can rate Saffron Finch sightings, Serra da Canastra National Park has the highest daily chance: about 80%. Next come Serra dos Órgãos National Park (Brazil, about 70%) and Emas National Park (Brazil, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Sicalis
The closest relatives of the Saffron Finch that you can see in Serra da Canastra National Park (genus Sicalis, Yellow-Finches) are Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch (about 30%) and Grassland Yellow-Finch (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Saffron Finch is recorded against all the birds logged in Serra da Canastra National Park (591 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.
