Bananaquit | |
---|---|
In Campo Limpo Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Thraupidae |
Genus: | Coereba Vieillot, 1809 |
Species: | C. flaveola |
Binomial name | |
Coereba flaveola | |
Synonyms | |
|
The bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) is a species of passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. Before the development of molecular genetics in the 21st century, its relationship to other species was uncertain and it was either placed with the buntings and New World sparrows in the family Emberizidae, with New World warblers in the family Parulidae or its own monotypic family Coerebidae. This small, active nectarivore is found in warmer parts of the Americas and is generally common.
Its name is derived from its yellow color and the English word quit , which refers to small passerines of tropical America; cf. grassquit, orangequit. [2]
The bananaquit was formally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Certhia flaveola. [3] Linnaeus based his description on the "black and yellow bird" described by John Ray and Hans Sloane, [4] [5] and the "Black and Yellow Creeper" described and illustrated by George Edwards in 1751. [6] The bananaquit was reclassified as the only member of the genus Coereba by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1809. [7] The genus name is of uncertain origin but may be from a Tupi name Güirá for a small black and yellow bird. The specific epithet flaveolus is a diminutive of the Latin flavus meaning "golden" or "yellow". [8]
Before the development of techniques to sequence DNA, the relationship of the bananaquit to other species was uncertain. It was variously placed with the New World warblers in the family Parulidae, [9] with the buntings and New World sparrows in the family Emberizidae, [10] or in its own monotypic family Coerebidae. [11] Based on the results of molecular phylogenetic studies, the bananaquit is now placed in the tanager family Thraupidae and belongs with Darwin's finches to the subfamily Coerebinae. [12] [13] [14]
It is still unclear if any of the island subspecies should be elevated to species, but phylogenetic studies have revealed three clades: the nominate group from Jamaica, Hispaniola, and the Cayman Islands, the bahamensis group from the Bahamas and Quintana Roo, and the bartholemica group from South and Central America, Mexico (except Quintana Roo), the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico. [15] [16] Several taxa were not sampled, [15] [16] but most of these are easily placed in the above groups based on zoogeography alone. Exceptions are oblita (San Andrés Island) and tricolor (Providencia Island), and their placement is therefore uncertain. In February 2010, the International Ornithological Congress listed bahamensis and bartholemica as proposed splits from C. flaveola. [17]
There are 41 currently recognized subspecies: [14]
The bananaquit is a small bird, although there is some degree of size variation across the various subspecies. Length can range from 4 to 5 in (10 to 13 cm). [18] [19] Weight ranges from 5.5 to 19 g (0.19 to 0.67 oz). [20] [21]
Most subspecies of the bananaquit have dark grey (almost black) upperparts, black crowns and sides of the head, a prominent white eyestripe, grey throat, white vent, and yellow chest, belly, and rump. Coloration is heavily influenced by melanocortin 1 receptor variation. [22]
The sexes are alike, but juveniles are duller and often have partially yellow eyebrows and throat.
In the subspecies bahamensis and caboti from the Bahamas and Cozumel, respectively, the throat and upper chest are white or very pale grey, [23] [24] while ferryi from La Tortuga Island has a white forehead. [25] The subspecies laurae, lowii, and melanornis from small islands off the coast of northern Venezuela are overall blackish, [25] while the subspecies aterrima and atrata from Grenada and Saint Vincent have two plumage morphs, one "normal" and another blackish. [23] The pink gape is usually very prominent in the subspecies from islands in the Caribbean Sea.
The tongue is paddle-shaped, with an extremely long paddle section. [26]
It is resident in tropical South America north to southern Mexico and the Caribbean. It is found throughout the West Indies, except for Cuba. [23] Birds from the Bahamas are rare visitors to Florida. [27]
It occurs in a wide range of open to semi-open habitats, including gardens and parks, but it is rare or absent in deserts, dense forests (e.g. large parts of the Amazon rainforest), and at altitudes above 2,000 m (6,600 ft). [25]
Bananaquit nests are known to be used by frog species, such as the Common coquí. [28]
The bananaquit has a slender, curved bill, adapted to taking nectar from flowers, including mistletoes. [29] Nectivory is probably an independent innovation in Coereba. [26] Since then C. flaveola's tongue shape has shown convergent evolution with other birds feeding on the same flowers, and its source flowers have shown convergence to accommodate its tongue. [26] It sometimes pierces flowers from the side, taking the nectar without pollinating the plant - known as nectar robbing. [27] [30] It also feeds on fruits - including mistletoe fruits, other berries, and ripe bananas (hence the common name and bananivora for the Hispaniolan subspecies). [29] [31] [32] [33] It has been observed taking fruits' sweet juices by puncturing fruit with its beak and it will also eat small insects (such as ants and flies), their larvae, and other small arthropods (such as spiders) on occasion. [34] While feeding, the bananaquit must always perch, as it cannot hover like a hummingbird. [31]
The bananaquit is known for its ability to adjust remarkably to human environments. It often visits gardens and may become very tame. Its nickname, the sugar bird, comes from its affinity for bowls or bird feeders stocked with granular sugar, a common method of attracting these birds. [31] The bananaquit builds a spherical lined nest with a side entrance hole, laying up to three eggs, which are incubated solely by the female. [35] It may also build its nest in human-made objects, such as lampshades and garden trellises. The birds breed all year regardless of season and build new nests throughout the year. [31]
The tanagers comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropical birds.
The common ground dove is a small bird that inhabits the southern United States, parts of Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It is considered to be the smallest dove that inhabits the United States. As its name suggests, the bird spends the majority of its time on the ground walking but still has the ability to fly.
The green honeycreeper is a small bird in the tanager family. It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Brazil, and on Trinidad. It is the only member of the genus Chlorophanes.
The purple honeycreeper is a small Neotropical bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in the tropical New World from Colombia and Venezuela south to Brazil, and on Trinidad. A few, possibly introduced birds have been recorded on Tobago.
The red-legged honeycreeper is a small songbird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and on Cuba, where possibly introduced. It is also rarely found in southern Texas.
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 saffron finch is a tanager from South America that is common in open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon Basin. They have a wide distribution in Colombia, northern Venezuela, western Ecuador, western Peru, eastern and southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and Trinidad and Tobago. It has also been introduced to Hawaii, Panama, Puerto Rico and elsewhere. Although commonly regarded as a canary, it is not related to the Atlantic canary. Formerly, it was placed in the Emberizidae but it is close to the seedeaters.
The common chlorospingus, also referred to as common bush tanager, is a small passerine bird. It is a resident breeder in the highlands from central Mexico south to Bolivia and northwest Argentina. C. flavopectus in the loose sense is a notorious cryptic species complex, and several of the up to 25 subspecies recognized in recent times are likely to be distinct species. Some populations in fact appear to be more distinct than several other members of Chlorospingus.
The yellow-faced grassquit is a passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae and is the only member of the genus Tiaris. It is native to the Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
The yellow-crowned amazon or yellow-crowned parrot is a species of parrot native to tropical South America, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. The taxonomy is highly complex and the yellow-headed and yellow-naped amazon are sometimes considered subspecies of the yellow-crowned amazon. Except in the taxonomic section, the following deals only with the nominate group .They are found in the Amazon basin.
The brown-throated parakeet, also known as the St. Thomas conure or brown-throated conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in the subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, the northern mainland of South America, and islands off the South American coast.
The plushcap is a species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae and it is the only member of the genus Catamblyrhynchus.
The guira tanager is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae.
The chestnut-bellied seed finch is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, but was until recently placed in Emberizidae.
The white-winged tanager is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found from Mexico, through Central America, across northern South America and as far south as Bolivia.
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.
The lined seedeater is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae.
The flame-crested tanager is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. Ten subspecies are currently recognized.
The golden tanager is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is widespread and often common in highland forests of the Andes and Venezuelan Coastal Range in north-western South America.
The burnished-buff tanager, also known as the rufous-crowned tanager, is a common South American species of bird in the family Thraupidae.
C. nigra, uropygio pectoreque luteo, superciliis macula alarum rectricumque apicibus albis.