What is a comeñame? Puerto Rico's endemic bullfinch

How to identify a comeñame

The male is black with rufous-orange patches over the eye, on the throat, and on the feathers under the base of the tail. The female is similar but a duller black. Juveniles look very different: olive-brown to olive-green, with reddish-brown undertail coverts, which sometimes makes people think they are a separate species.

The bill is short, thick, and conical, the bill of a fruit and seed eater. That combination of black body, heavy bill, and rufous accents separates it from the island's other black birds. If the view is brief, wait for the bird to turn: the throat and undertail patches are the deciding mark.

The song: a cardinal-like 'whip-whip-whip'

The comeñame is often detected first by voice. Its song is a strongly whistled 'whip-whip-whip' followed by a buzz, with a tone reminiscent of a cardinal. It sings from dense vegetation, so it can sound very close without showing itself.

That repeated 'whip' causes confusion with the Puerto Rican Nightjar, which also sings a series of 'whip' notes. The difference is time and place: the bullfinch sings by day in forests, coffee farms, and wooded gardens; the nightjar sings in the dark of southern dry forest. The bullfinch page has a recording from Maricao with its spectrogram.

Where the comeñame lives

The comeñame is common in forests at all elevations and in coffee plantations, and also uses dry thickets near the coast, but it is rare in mangroves. The breeding bird atlas found it in 269 of 479 hexagons, mostly in the moist forest (54% of breeding hexagons) and wet forest (31%) life zones.

The most striking feature of its map is a gap: the atlas confirmed it is absent from at least the eastern lowlands of Puerto Rico and from Vieques and Culebra. If you live in Fajardo or on the island municipalities and see a black bird with red, rule out other species before reporting it. Maricao, Río Abajo, Guánica, and the shade coffee farms of the central mountains are good places to look for it.

What it eats and how it nests

The comeñame feeds mainly on fruit but also takes seeds, insects, and spiders. That diet explains why it is seen in fruiting trees in forests, coffee farms, and wooded yards in the mountains.

Published reports say it nests mainly from March to June, although the atlas found breeding evidence outside that period. It places the nest in trees or shrubs, close to the ground: a spherical structure with a side entrance, where it typically lays three light-green eggs. As with any nest, watch from a distance and do not disturb the surrounding vegetation.

Is it threatened? Vulnerable to the IUCN, not under local law

The IUCN Red List classifies the Puerto Rican Bullfinch as Vulnerable under criterion B1ab, which applies to species with a small range plus signs of decline or habitat deterioration. In the 2022 assessment, BirdLife cited an estimate of 30,000 to 37,000 pairs and kept the category. Earlier editions treated it as Least Concern, which is how the atlas lists it.

In Puerto Rico, the DNER classified it as Data Deficient in 2005 and as Low Risk in later assessments; it is not federally listed. The atlas also estimates that only 15% of the area with breeding evidence is protected. Its St. Kitts relative (Melopyrrha grandis), once treated as a subspecies, is probably extinct, a reminder of how fragile island birds can be.

Black birds it gets confused with

The Greater Antillean Grackle (Mozambique) is much larger, with a yellow eye, a long keel-shaped tail, and a bluish sheen; it walks on the ground in parks and parking lots. The Shiny Cowbird (Tordo Lustroso) is black with a purple gloss and a slimmer bill. The Black-faced Grassquit (Gorrión Negro) is small, olive with a black face, and moves through grass and edges.

None has the comeñame's rufous throat and undertail. Puerto Rico also has accidental records of its relative, the Lesser Antillean Bullfinch (Comeñame Antillano), from the Lesser Antilles; a bird like that needs clear photos. For more comparisons, see the guide to Puerto Rico's black birds.

What is a comeñame bird?

The comeñame is the Puerto Rican Bullfinch (Melopyrrha portoricensis), a bird endemic to Puerto Rico. It is black and thick-billed, with rufous-orange patches over the eye, on the throat, and under the tail, and it lives in forests and coffee farms across most of the island.

Is it spelled comeñame or come ñame?

The Puerto Rico Ornithological Society's official catalog spells it 'Comeñame', as one word. 'Come ñame' is a common way people search for it online, and it refers to the same endemic bird.

Is the Puerto Rican Bullfinch endemic?

Yes. The Puerto Rican Bullfinch lives only in Puerto Rico, though not across the whole archipelago: it is absent from the far east of the main island, Vieques, and Culebra. Its St. Kitts relative, once treated as a subspecies, is probably extinct.

What does the Puerto Rican Bullfinch eat?

It eats mainly fruit, plus seeds, insects, and spiders. That is why it is often seen in fruiting trees in forests, coffee farms, and wooded yards.

Is the Puerto Rican Bullfinch endangered?

It is not endangered, but the IUCN classifies it as Vulnerable because of its small range. In Puerto Rico it is not on the DNER or federal threatened-species lists, and BirdLife estimates 30,000 to 37,000 pairs.

What does the comeñame sound like?

Its song is a strongly whistled 'whip-whip-whip' that ends in a buzz, similar to a cardinal. It sings by day from dense vegetation, unlike the Puerto Rican Nightjar, which gives a series of 'whip' notes at night.