| Bahama mockingbird | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In Ciego de Avila Province, Cuba | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Mimidae |
| Genus: | Mimus |
| Species: | M. gundlachii |
| Binomial name | |
| Mimus gundlachii Cabanis, 1855 | |
 | |
The Bahama mockingbird (Mimus gundlachii) is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and is a vagrant to Florida. [2] [3]
The Bahama mockingbird has two subspecies, the nominate Mimus gundlachii gundlachii and M. g. hillii. [2] Its specific epithet honors Juan Gundlach. [4]
The Bahama mockingbird is 28 cm (11 in) long and weighs between 57 and 85 g (2.0 and 3.0 oz) with an average of 66.8 g (2.36 oz). Adults of the nominate subspecies have a mottled face with a pale supercilium. Their upperparts are brownish gray with dark streaks from the crown to the lower back. Their outer tail feathers have whitish tips. Their underparts are light gray with light streaking on the upper breast and more prominent streaks on the flanks. The juvenile is similar but has more densely spotted underparts. M. g. hillii has more prominent streaking on its back than the nominate and the white tips on the tail feathers are larger. [4]
The nominate subspecies of Bahama mockingbird is found in the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago off Cuba's north coast. M. g. hillii is found only in southern Jamaica. [4]
Except in Jamaica, the Bahama mockingbird inhabits a variety of biomes including coastal strand, semi-arid scrub, open woodland, and plantations. In Jamaica it inhabits dry scrubby woodland on limestone hills. It appears to favor taller, denser vegetation than the similar northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottus) where their ranges overlap. [4]
The Bahama mockingbird is omnivorous; its diet includes invertebrates, nectar, small fruits, and small lizards. It mainly forages on the ground, searching through leaf litter, but also hunts up to 6 m (20 ft) high in vegetation. It aggressively defends feeding sites. [4]
The Bahama mockingbird's breeding season spans from February to July in most areas but from April on the Cuban islands. Both sexes build a rough open cup nest of twigs, lined with softer fibers, and usually placed low in a bush. They aggressively defend their territory with vigorous song. The clutch size is two or three. [4]
The Bahama mockingbird's song is loud and repetitive, a "series of abrupt, varied notes and phrases, with repetition". It apparently does not mimic other birds' songs. [4]
The IUCN has assessed the Bahama mockingbird as being of Least Concern. [1] It is common in the Bahamas, in southern Jamaica, and on some of the Cuban cays. As human habitation spreads it might suffer from competition with the northern mockingbird. [4]
The double-crested cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. Its habitat is near rivers and lakes as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Measuring 70–90 cm (28–35 in) in length, it is an all-black bird which gains a small double crest of black and white feathers in breeding season. It has a bare patch of orange-yellow facial skin. Five subspecies are recognized. It mainly eats fish and hunts by swimming and diving. Its feathers, like those of all cormorants, are not waterproof and it must spend time drying them out after spending time in the water. Once threatened by the use of DDT, the numbers of this bird have increased markedly in recent years.
The northern rough-winged swallow is a small, migratory swallow. It is very similar to the southern rough-winged swallow, Stelgidopteryx ruficollis.
The sharp-shinned hawk is a small hawk, with males being the smallest hawks in the United States and Canada, but with the species averaging larger than some Neotropical species, such as the tiny hawk. The taxonomy is far from resolved, with some authorities considering the southern taxa to represent three separate species: white-breasted hawk, plain-breasted hawk, and rufous-thighed hawk. The American Ornithological Society keeps all four species conspecific.
The northern mockingbird is a mockingbird commonly found in North America. This bird is mainly a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south during harsh weather. This species has rarely been observed in Europe. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Turdus polyglottos. The northern mockingbird is known for its mimicking ability, as reflected by the meaning of its scientific name, "many-tongued thrush". The northern mockingbird has gray to brown upper feathers and a paler belly. Its tail and wings have white patches which are visible in flight.
The blue-gray gnatcatcher or blue-grey gnatcatcher is a very small songbird native to North America.
The tropical mockingbird is a resident breeding bird from southern Mexico to northern and eastern South America and in the Lesser Antilles and other Caribbean islands.
The black-faced grassquit is a small bird. It is recognized as a tanager closely related to Darwin's finches. It breeds in the West Indies except Cuba, on Tobago but not Trinidad, and along the northern coasts of Colombia and Venezuela.
The Bahama woodstar is a species of hummingbird endemic to the Bahama archipelago, including the Bahama and Turks and Caicos islands. It is named the "Hummer" by locals due to a distinct humming sound it makes while feeding.
The Cuban amazon also known as Cuban parrot or the rose-throated parrot, is a medium-sized mainly green parrot found in woodlands and dry forests of Cuba, the Bahamas and Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Although they have been observed in the wild in Puerto Rico, they are probably the result of escaped pets, and no reproduction has been recorded.
The chalk-browed mockingbird is a bird in the family mimidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Suriname, and Uruguay.
The golden swallow is a swallow endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and was once native to Jamaica, but is now extirpated there. It is restricted to isolated montane forests that primarily consist of the Hispaniolan pine. This species is considered to be a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The exact cause of its extirpation from Jamaica is unknown, but likely factors include predation by introduced mammals and habitat loss, although the habitat loss theory is not supported by much evidence. The last sighting of the nominate subspecies was in Hardwar Gap, with three birds being seen on 8 June 1989.
The scaly-breasted thrasher is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found throughout much of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.
The brown-backed mockingbird is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia.
The long-tailed mockingbird is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.
The Patagonian mockingbird is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found in much of Argentina and locally in Chile.
The Chilean mockingbird, locally known as tenca, is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It primarily inhabits Chile's northern half, though there are sightings in Argentina.
The white-banded mockingbird is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The San Cristóbal mockingbird or Chatham mockingbird, is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is endemic to San Cristóbal Island in the Galápagos Islands.
The Floreana mockingbird or the Charles Island mockingbird, is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It was endemic to Floreana, one of the Galápagos Islands, but now is found only on two nearby islets, Campeón and Gardner-near-Floreana. The Floreana mockingbird is also known as Darwin's mockingbird, as it was the arguable inspiration for Charles Darwin's work on the origins of species; he noticed distinct differences between them and previous species he had encountered and consequently established the existence of other variants on neighboring islands.
The western spindalis is a songbird species. It was formerly considered conspecific with the other three species of spindalis, with the common name stripe-headed tanager.
