Not a true finch, but actually a tanager. This is a male. Females are similar but lack the orange face. In Southern South America the females are very different from the brightly colored males being dull brown and streaked. These birds sometimes go under the name "Pelzeln's Finch," The two populations are widely separated and it has been suggested that more than one species may be involved. Saffron Finch was introduced on Oahu and Hawaii (the big island) in the 1960s. Here in Kauai, the species was first noticed in 2004 and thought to be from additional local releases rather than natural dispersal from other islands. Pyle & Pyle (2017) do not consider this population to be fully established.
