Black-faced canary
Crithagra capistrata Finsch, 1870
The black-faced canary (Crithagra capistrata) is a species in the family Fringillidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 13.6 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Quick facts about the black-faced canary
- Weight
- 13.6 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Granivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the black-faced canary live?
Not recorded
What is the black-faced canary?
The black-faced canary (Crithagra capistrata) is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.
The black-faced canary was formerly placed in the genus Serinus but phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences found that the genus was polyphyletic. The genus was therefore split and a number of species including the black-faced canary were moved to the resurrected genus Crithagra.
From the Wikipedia article “Black-faced canary” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-faced_canary&oldid=1379690953), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black-faced canary endangered?
The black-faced canary is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the black-faced canary classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyFringillidae
- genusCrithagra
- SpeciesCrithagra capistrata Finsch, 1870
Synonyms Dendrospiza capistrata, Serinus capistratus
Other names and names in other languages (33)
- BFCAEnglish
- رقاح أسود الوجهArabic
- كناري أسود الوجهArabic
- gafarró caranegreCatalan
- zvonohlík černolícíCzech
- Sortmasket SiskenDanish
- ZügelgirlitzGerman
- nigramaska serinoEsperanto
- Serín carinegroSpanish
- Canario carinegroSpanish
- mask-koldvintEstonian
- قناری سیاهچهرهPersian
- mustanaamiohemppoFinnish
- Serin à masque noirFrench
- Crithagre à masque noirFrench
- crnolica žutaricaCroatian
- kantáros csicsörkeHungarian
- Canarino faccianeraItalian
- カオグロカナリアJapanese
- juodaveidis svilikėlisLithuanian
- MaskerkanarieDutch
- maskeiriskNorwegian
- afrokulczyk czarnolicyPolish
- canário-de-cara-pretaPortuguese
- canário-de-faces-pretasPortuguese
- Чернолицый канареечникRussian
- Чернолицый канареечный вьюрокRussian
- kanárik čiernolíciSlovak
- svartmaskad siskaSwedish
- Kara Yüzlü İsketeTurkish
- щедрик ангольськийUkrainian
- 黑脸丝雀Chinese
- 黑臉絲雀Chinese
Relatives of the black-faced canary
Other species in the same genus Crithagra.

Yellow-fronted canary
Crithagra mozambica

Yellow canary
Crithagra flaviventris

Black-throated canary
Crithagra atrogularis

Drakensberg siskin
Crithagra symonsi

African citril
Crithagra citrinelloides

White-rumped seedeater
Crithagra leucopygia
CompareBlack-faced canary vs Yellow-fronted canaryBlack-faced canary vs Yellow canaryBlack-faced canary vs Black-throated canaryBlack-faced canary vs Drakensberg siskin
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the black-faced canary?
An adult black-faced canary weighs 13.6 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the black-faced canary endangered?
The black-faced canary is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the black-faced canary?
The black-faced canary (Crithagra capistrata) belongs to the family Fringillidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black-faced canary (Crithagra capistrata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-faced-canary
“Black-faced canary (Crithagra capistrata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-faced-canary.
@misc{black_faced_canary_2026,
title = {Black-faced canary (Crithagra capistrata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-faced-canary},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}