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Small Ground Finch Video Stock Footage

The small ground finch is the smallest of the ground finches, measuring 11 cm (4.3 in) in length. Its beak is short and pointed, with a slightly curved culmen. On average, its beak is smaller than that of the medium ground finch, but there is a significant overlap in size between the two, particularly on islands where only one of the two species exists. On islands where the two species compete directly, the difference between their beaks are greater. The male is black with white-tipped undertail coverts, while the female and young are brown with streaked underparts. There are observable phenotypic differences between finches that live in lowlands and ones that live in highlands, and this change is most likely attributed to adaptation. The finches seen in highlands have larger, more pointed beaks and smaller feet and claws compared to the lowland variety. These finches are on a cline (series of biocommunities on a continuous gradient), and individuals in the hybrid zone have intermediate traits. This is an example of parapatric speciation, where the elevation gradient of 560 meters causes differentiation in traits, but hybrids are well adapted in their “hybrid zone.” When Charles Darwin first collected the species in 1835, he thought it was a finch. John Gould, who officially described Darwin's specimens, agreed, placing it in the genus Fringilla with the Old World finches. By 1841, Gould had changed his mind, moving this and five other species into the...Learn more about Small Ground Finch


View related species in family group: Finch

Animalia: Chordata: Passeriformes: Aves: Thraupidae: Geospiza fuliginosa

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