White-bellied Canary

Little short-billed bird, the White-bellied Canary is of small to medium size, with a slightly forked tail and a white belly. Previously thought to be conspecific with the St. Helena Canary, it is likely closer to the Mozambique Canary, which is distinguished by its slightly longer tail and more diffuse facial pattern and yellow belly. Three subspecies are currently recognized. The male of the nominate subspecies has the forehead, lores up to the eyebrows and sides of the neck dark yellow. The cheeks and parotids are bright yellow bordered on the top by an ocular band of dark olive and a malaire band of olive-green. The cap and nape are dark olive-green or finely striped greenish-yellow becoming olive-green on the mantle up to the scapulars. The chin and throat to the lower chest are dark yellow. The upper part of the abdomen, the flanks and undertail are pale yellow. The lower part of the abdomen is white. The iris is dark brown to blackish. The short conical beak is dark-horn above and pale-horn below. The legs are blackish or dark gray horn. The smaller coverts are pale yellow olive-green bordered by brown, the medium coverts are blackish-brown fringed with olive-green and the larger coverts are blackish-brown bordered by olive-green. The alula is dark brown, the primaries and secondaries are dark brown with yellowish or greenish-yellow margins and the tertiaries are more broadly bordered with yellowish-green at the tips. The rump is yellow becoming green on the uppertails, the rectrices are blackish-brown bordered with greenish-yellow. The female is similar to the male with greener shades on the parotids, more prominent streaks on the sides of the chest and flanks.The juvenile has pale-brown or brown-ochre head and upperparts, with darker stripes and often yellow or green on the back. The eyebrow is shorter, and the face is off-white. The sides of the cheeks and the malar stripe are gray-brown. The lower chin to chest are light brown-ochre, speckled with dark brown on the lower throat and upper chest, and the lower chest to undertail are white. The rump is yellow, the flight feathers and tail are dark brown with paler borders or yellowish-green. The tips of the median and greater coverts are pale yellowish-brown or ochre. The male of the ssp maculicollis is distinguished by more pronounced whiteness on the belly, and a narrower yellow frontal band than the nominate ssp. The upperparts are slightly greener or tinged with gray-green. The flanks are streaked with blackish. The female is similar to the nominate ssp, with the head slightly paler yellow. The crown and upperparts are tinged with brown, the chin and throat are whitish, and the upper chest is clearly streaked with blackish-brown. S. d. taruensis has upperparts greener than maculicollis. The forehead and eyebrow are much yellower and the white part of the belly is less extensive.