Blue mockingbird | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Mimidae |
Genus: | Melanotis |
Species: | M. caerulescens |
Binomial name | |
Melanotis caerulescens (Swainson, 1827) | |
The blue mockingbird (Melanotis caerulescens) is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is endemic to Mexico, but has occurred as a vagrant in the southern United States. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.
The blue mockingbird is uniformly blue on its back, tail, wings, head and underbelly. This color is a result of feather structure rather than pigment, and therefore can look gray in the shade. It has a black "mask" surrounding its reddish-brown eyes. It has a rather long, slightly graduated tail, and dark blue streaks over its breast. Its bill is long, thin and slightly curved, and its legs and feet are black.
When he first described the blue mockingbird in 1827, William Swainson assigned it to the mockingbird Orpheus, and when Orpheus became a junior synonym for the genus Mimus , the species was moved accordingly. Not all authorities agreed; several placed it in the thrush Turdus . However, when Charles Lucien Bonaparte moved it to its current genus Melanotis in 1850, most authorities quickly followed suit. [2] There is disagreement as to whether it is monotypic [3] or not. [4]
Among taxonomists who believe the species is polytypic, two subspecies are generally recognized.
The blue mockingbird has historically been considered conspecific with the closely related blue-and-white mockingbird. [5] Its species name is derived from the Latin adjective caerǔlěus, meaning "blue". [6]
Measuring 9.5–10.5 in (24–27 cm) in length, [7] and weighing between 50.2 and 59.7 g (1.77 and 2.11 oz), [8] the blue mockingbird is a medium-sized mimid. Individuals of the subspecies caerulescens have a mean body mass slightly higher than that for individuals of the subspecies longirostris — 63.5 g (2.24 oz) for the former and 59.7 g (2.11 oz) for the latter. [8]
The blue mockingbird lives in a variety of woodlands: humid forest, riparian thickets, scrub, pine-oak forests and second growth. It is found at elevations ranging from lowlands to 2,450 m (8,040 ft). [7]
The blue mockingbird builds a cup nest of twigs and rootlets. [7]
The blue mockingbird is an omnivore; it feeds primarily on invertebrates, but also on some vegetable matter. [9]
Because of its very large range and sizable population (estimated to number 500,000–4,999,999 individuals), the blue mockingbird is rated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There is, however, evidence that its overall numbers are dropping, primarily due to habitat fragmentation and loss. [1] The Mexican government has named the longirostris subspecies as a taxon of "special concern". [10]
The mimids are the New World family of passerine birds, Mimidae, that includes thrashers, mockingbirds, tremblers, and the New World catbirds. As their name suggests, these birds are notable for their vocalization, especially some species' remarkable ability to mimic a wide variety of birds and other sounds heard outdoors. They are commonly referred to as mimic thrushes but are not, in fact, thrushes.
Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession and for being extremely territorial when raising hatchlings. Studies have shown the ability of some species to identify individual humans and treat them differently based on learned threat assessments.
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