Corsican Finch

The Corsican finch (Carduelis corsicana), also known as the Corsican citril finch or Mediterranean citril finch, is a species of passerine bird belonging to the family Fringillidae, the "true" finches. This species is endemic to Corsica and Sardinia and nearby islands in France and Italy. == Taxonomy == The Corsican finch was first formally formal description as Citrinella corsicana in 1899 by the German zoologist Alexander Koenig with its type locality given as Corsica. It was formerly regarded a subspecies of the citril finch (C. citrinella), but it differs in morphology and vocalizations as well as mtDNA sequence and they are now considered distinct species. The Corsican finch is classified within the genus Carduelis, with the citril finch being its closest relative, although the Corsican finch split from the citril finch lineage around 1.37 million years ago. However, they are more closely related to one another than either is to the European goldfinch (C. carduelis). The genus Carduelis is classified within the subfamily Carduelinae of the family Fringillidae. The phylogenetic relationships among the Carduelis species are shown below, based on the data by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. == Description == The Corsican finch is a small finch, with a…