Cacique (bird)

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Caciques
Cacicus chrysopterus -Argentina-8.jpg
Golden-winged cacique
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Cacicus
Lacépède, 1799
Type species
Oriolus haemorrhous [1]
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

See text.

The caciques are passerine birds in the New World blackbird family which are resident breeders in tropical South America north to Mexico. All of the group are in currently placed in the genus Cacicus, except the aberrant yellow-billed cacique (Amblycercus holosericeus), and the Mexican cacique (Cassiculus melanicterus) which constitute respective monotypic genera. Judging from mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence (Price & Lanyon 2002), the aberrant oropendolas band-tailed oropendola (Ocyalus latirostris) and casqued oropendola, Psarocolius oseryi (Ocyalus oseryi?) seem to be closer to the caciques.

Contents

Nesting colony of the red-rumped cacique (a single bird perched center-left) Cacicus haemorrhous -nest colony -river-8b.jpg
Nesting colony of the red-rumped cacique (a single bird perched center-left)

The caciques are birds associated with woodland or forest. Most are colonial breeders, with several long, hanging, bag-shaped nests in a tree, each suspended from the end of a branch. Some species choose a tree that also contains an active wasp nest (such as Polybia rejecta ) as a deterrent to predators (e.g. toucans), and females compete for the best sites near the protection of the wasp nest.[ citation needed ] The eggs are incubated by the female alone.

These are slim birds with long tails and a predominantly black plumage. The relatively long pointed bill is pale greenish, yellowish or bluish, depending on species, and most caciques have blue eyes (at least when adult). The female is typically smaller than the male.

Two species have the black plumage enlivened by a red rump, five have a yellow rump and in some cases yellow on the shoulders or crissum (the undertail coverts surrounding the cloaca). The two remaining species are all black with no bright colour patches. A single species, the Mexican cacique, has extensive yellow to the tail, but otherwise all caciques have largely black tails (something that separates them from the larger oropendolas).

Caciques eat large insects and fruit. Most are gregarious and typically seen in small groups. They are very vocal, producing a wide range of songs, sometimes including mimicry.

Most remain fairly common and are able to withstand some habitat modifications, but two west Amazonian species, the Ecuadorian and Selva caciques, are notably local and scarce.

The genus Cacicus was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799. [2] The type species was subsequently designated as the red-rumped cacique (Cacicus haemorrhous). [3]

Species

The genus contains 11 species. [4]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Solitary Cacique - Pantanal - Brazil H8O0547 (23889343835).jpg Cacicus solitarius Solitary cacique Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela
Cacicus chrysopterus -Reserva Guainumbi, Sao Luiz do Paraitinga, Sao Paulo, Brasil-8.jpg Cacicus chrysopterus Golden-winged cacique Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay
Cacicus koepckeae Selva cacique Peru
Cacicus sclateri Ecuadorian cacique Colombia, eastern Ecuador and northeastern Peru
Yellow-rumped cacique 10.jpg Cacicus cela Yellow-rumped cacique South America from Panama and Trinidad south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil
Cacicus uropygialis -Panama-8.jpg Cacicus microrhynchus Scarlet-rumped cacique western Colombia south to Ecuador
Cacicus uropygialis Subtropical cacique Venezuela through Andes to Peru
Northern Mountain Cacique (Cacicus chrysonotus).jpg Cacicus chrysonotus Mountain cacique Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela
Cacicus latirostris Band-tailed oropendola western Amazon in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and far southern Colombia
Cacicus oseryi Casqued oropendola Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru
Red-rumped Cacique.jpg Cacicus haemorrhous Red-rumped cacique south-eastern and coastal Brazil, including Paraguay, and parts of north-eastern Argentina

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-and-yellow macaw</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moriche oriole</span> Subspecies of bird

The moriche oriole is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It is unrelated to Old World orioles. It is a breeding resident in the tropics of eastern South America. This bird is noted for its close association with the palm Mauritia flexuosa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-rumped cacique</span> Species of bird

The yellow-rumped cacique is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds in much of northern South America from Panama and Trinidad south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil. However, they have been sighted as far north as Nayarit state in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piratic flycatcher</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oropendola</span> Genus of birds

Oropendolas are a genus of passerine birds, Psarocolius, in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. They were formerly split among two or three different genera and are found in Central and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-tailed tropicbird</span> Species of bird

The white-tailed tropicbird is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical Atlantic, western Pacific and Indian Oceans. It also breeds on some Caribbean islands, and a few pairs have started nesting recently on Little Tobago, joining the red-billed tropicbird colony. In addition to the tropical Atlantic, it nests as far north as Bermuda, where it is locally called a "longtail".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestnut-headed oropendola</span> Species of bird

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The Montezuma oropendola is a New World tropical icterid bird. It is a resident breeder in the Caribbean coastal lowlands from southeastern Mexico to central Panama, but is absent from El Salvador and southern Guatemala. It also occurs on the Pacific slope of Nicaragua and Honduras and northwestern and southwestern Costa Rica. It is among the oropendola species sometimes separated in the genus Gymnostinops. The English and scientific names of this species commemorate the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melodious blackbird</span> Species of bird

The melodious blackbird is a New World tropical bird.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarlet-rumped cacique</span> Species of bird

The scarlet-rumped cacique is a passerine bird species in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds from eastern Honduras to Panama and in the Pacific lowlands of South America from western Colombia south to Ecuador, and in the lower reaches of the northern Andes. There are several subspecies, some of which have been proposed for elevation to full species status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue ground dove</span> Species of bird

The blue ground dove is a small New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from southeastern Mexico to northwestern Peru and northern Argentina, and on Trinidad in the Caribbean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-billed cacique</span> Species of bird

The yellow-billed cacique is a species of cacique in the family Icteridae. It is monotypic within the genus Amblycercus. There is some question as to whether or not it is a true cacique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-rumped cacique</span> Species of bird

The red-rumped cacique is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is a species of the Amazon Basin and the Guyanas in northern South America, and is only coastal there in the Guyanas and the Amazon River outlet to the Atlantic; a separate large disjunct range exists in all of south-eastern and coastal Brazil, including Paraguay, and parts of north-eastern Argentina. It is also found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican cacique</span> Species of bird

The Mexican cacique or yellow-winged cacique is a species of cacique in the family Icteridae. It is found only on the west coast of Mexico and the northernmost edge of Guatemala. It is monotypic in its own genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solitary cacique</span> Species of bird

The solitary cacique or solitary black cacique is a species of bird in the family Icteridae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-cowled oriole</span> Species of bird (Icterus prosthemelas) in Central America

The black-cowled oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is common and widespread in the Caribbean lowlands and foothills from southern Mexico to western Panama. It lives primarily in humid or semihumid forest, as well as in clearings, along forest edges, in plantations, in semi-open areas with scattered trees and bushes, and in gardens. The adult male is black, with yellow on the belly, shoulder, rump, wing lining, and crissum. The female's plumage varies depending on location. In the south of its range, it is similar to that of the male. In the north, its crown and upperparts are olive-yellow, while its face, throat, upper breast, wings, and tail are black.

References

  1. "Icteridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. Lacépède, Bernard Germain de (1799). "Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-division, ordres et genres des oiseux". Discours d'ouverture et de clôture du cours d'histoire naturelle (in French). Paris: Plassan. p. 6. Page numbering starts at one for each of the three sections.
  3. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 144.
  4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Oropendolas, orioles, blackbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 19 November 2023.