Saffron Finch

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 are widely distributed in Colombia, northern Venezuela, western Ecuador, western Peru, eastern and southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and Trinidad and Tobago. Additionally, it has been brought to places like Hawaii, Panama, Puerto Rico, and others. It is not related to the Atlantic canary, despite being frequently mistaken for a canary. Formerly, it was placed in the Emberizidae but it is close to the seedeaters.

The male stands out from the majority of other yellow finches by being bright yellow with an orange crown (the exception being the orange-fronted yellow finch). In general, the females are just a somewhat duller version of the males and are more difficult to distinguish, but in the southern subspecies of S. f. pelzelni, they are olive-brown with prominent dark stripes.