Priorities for Future Research

It is urgent to do an assessment of the status of wild populations of Cuban Bullfinch across Cuba, including not only the populations of the main island, but also those on the Island of Youth and the cays. The application of population distribution modeling techniques, review on previous databases, zoological collections and surveying to determine the presence/absence of the species in different habitats, obviously is a necessary step. There are currently no assessment programs to examine the long-term population trends of the species, which is of extraordinary relevance, considering that a demographic decline due to unsustainable use (among other problems) could pose a serious threat to Cuban Bullfinch. In particular, the monitoring of populations in places under heavy pressure from trapping must be considered.

Environmental education with people is another important task to be implemented, especially in the case of human communities living in proximity of wild populations of Cuban Bullfinch. Captive breeding must be considered as a long term alternative, to mitigate the extraction of individuals from wild populations. There also is a need to study the life history and molecular taxonomy of the Cuban Bullfinch in the Cuban Archipelago (Melopyrrha nigra nigra) and on Grand Cayman Island (M. n taylori).