Laysan Finch

The Laysan Finch Telespiza Cantans

By: Kona A.

Appearance A Laysan Finch males that are fully grown have yellow breasts, heads, and backs. Male Laysan Finches also have gray neck collars and a slight white belly.

Fully grown female Laysan Finches have yellow crowns, brown streaking, with a grey collar, too. Laysan Finches also have yellow throats and breasts. Their back feathers have dark brown spots with a lighter shade of brown surrounding those spots, and a trace of yellow.

Most people believe that the male looks more unique than the female Laysan Finch. In most animal species, the males do look more

unique so that they can attract their mate. In my opinion, the female Laysan Finch looks a lot more interesting than the male.

Laysan Finch Size The Laysan Finch can grow up to 6 ­ 6.5 inches which I think is large for a Finch. As well as most animals, the male Laysan Finch is larger than the female.

Habitat The Laysan Finch lives on Laysan Island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, as you can guess from it’s name. Laysan Finches make nests in crannies of rocks, or in clumps of native bunchgrasses.

Population Scale After rabbits were completely eliminated from Laysan Island in 1923, the Laysan Finches population started to grow higher. Numbers of the finches get smaller after very long droughts or really bad storms. But when the vegetation starts growing back, the bird population grows again.

I hope this inspired you and you’ll start trying to save these endangered animals. You should save this animal because they carry seeds to different places and plant them again, so you could have more to eat. Even if you don’t eat vegetation, omnivores and herbivores eat these plant and survive longer, and then reproduce, so you can have more food to eat! This animal also kills pests that eat your food. So please, again, save this animal. It helps you so you’ll be healthier and live a better life!

Thank you so much for spending your time reading this. I enjoyed doing this because it helps everyone. Save the Laysan Finches!

Bibliography

"The Laysan Finch." Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office. 20 Sept.

2012. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. <http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/fauna/laysanfinch.html>.