We talk so much about species going extinct that it’s easy to forget that there are still times when new species emerge.

The latest is a new finch in the Galapagos islands, which is a little bigger and sings a different song than its neighbors. There aren’t lot of them yet, but they are clearly forming a new distinct species.

That doesn’t mean they’ll be around long, however.

It’s possible that they’ll be out-competed by other finches on the island. Their initial gene pool may contain flaws that will be magnified with time. A chance disaster could wipe them out. The birds might even return to the fold of their parent species, and merge with them through interbreeding.

But for now, we can welcome a new kind of finch to the world. Long may they fly.