Blue mockingbird

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Blue mockingbird
Melanotis caerulescens - Victoria.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Mimidae
Genus: Melanotis
Species:
M. caerulescens
Binomial name
Melanotis caerulescens
(Swainson, 1827)
Melanotis caerulescens map.svg

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.

Contents

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.

Taxonomy

When he first described the blue mockingbird in 1827, William John 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]

Description

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]

Habitat and range

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]

Behavior

Breeding

The blue mockingbird builds a cup nest of twigs and rootlets. [7]

Food and feeding

The blue mockingbird is an omnivore; it feeds primarily on invertebrates, but also on some vegetable matter. [9]

Conservation and threats

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]

Related Research Articles

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Mimid Family of birds

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.

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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. There are about 17 species in two genera, although three species of mockingbird from the Galapagos Islands were formerly separated into a third genus, Nesomimus. The mockingbirds do not appear to form a monophyletic lineage, as Mimus and Melanotis are not each other's closest relatives; instead, Melanotis appears to be more closely related to the catbirds, while the closest living relatives of Mimus appear to be thrashers, such as the sage thrasher.

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Golden-crowned kinglet Species of bird

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Long-billed hermit Species of hummingbirdbird

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Long-tailed hermit Species of bird

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Long-billed thrasher Species of bird

The long-billed thrasher is a medium-sized resident songbird of South Texas and eastern Mexico. It bears a strong resemblance to its close relative the brown thrasher in appearance, calls, and various other behaviors; however, the two species do not overlap in range except in the winter when the brown thrasher will temporarily reside in the northern range of the long-billed.

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Buff-faced pygmy parrot Species of bird

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Blue-and-white mockingbird Species of bird

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San Cristóbal mockingbird Species of bird

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Blue nuthatch Species of small passerine bird

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Omiltemi Ecological State Park is a protected area in southern Mexico. It is located in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero. The park includes well-preserved pine–oak forests and cloud forests.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2020). "Melanotis caerulescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T22711020A139353996. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22711020A139353996.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ United States National Museum (1907). Bulletin of the United States National Museum, Volume 50, part 4. Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office. pp. 209–212.
  3. ↑ Monroe, Burt L; Sibley, Charles G (1997). A World Checklist of Birds. Yale University Press. p. 237. ISBN   0-300-07083-7.
  4. 1 2 Clements, James F. (2000). Birds of the World: A Checklist (5th ed.). Robertsbridge, UK: Pica Press. p. 408. ISBN   1-873403-93-3.
  5. ↑ Sibley, Charles Gald; Monroe, Burt Leavelle (1990). Distribution and Taxonomy of the Birds of the World. Yale University Press. p. 522. ISBN   0-300-04969-2.
  6. ↑ Simpson DP (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5th ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. p. 84. ISBN   0-304-52257-0.
  7. 1 2 3 Howell, Steve N.G.; Webb, Sophie (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America . Oxford University Press. p.  597. ISBN   0-19-854012-4.
  8. 1 2 Dunning Jr., John B. (5 December 2007). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL, US: CRC Press. p. 353. ISBN   978-1-4200-6444-5.
  9. ↑ Brewer, David (2010). Wrens, Dippers and Thrashers. London, UK: Christopher Helm. p. 210. ISBN   978-1-8734-0395-2.
  10. ↑ Wells, Jeffrey (2007). Birder's Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk. Princeton, NJ, US: Princeton University Press. p. 430. ISBN   978-0-691-12322-6.
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