Forbes's blackbird

Last updated

Forbes's blackbird
Anumara forbesi - Forbes's Blackbird; Tamandare, Pernambuco, Brazil.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Anumara
Powell et al., 2014
Species:
A. forbesi
Binomial name
Anumara forbesi
(Sclater, PL, 1886)
Curaeus forbesi map.svg
Synonyms

Curaeus forbesi

Forbes's blackbird (Anumara forbesi) is an endangered species of New World blackbird that is endemic to the Atlantic forest in South America. This species was named for the British zoologist William Alexander Forbes.

Contents

Identification

Forbes's blackbird is an average sized icterid around 21–24 cm with all black, non-glossy feathers. It has a slender, arrow-shaped bill with a straight culmen, equal to the length of its head. It has a long, slender tail with rounded feathers. As a perching bird it has an anisodactyl toe arrangement with three toes facing forward and one back. It has a harsh and buzzy call and chatters. It is often mistaken for the chopi blackbird (Gnorimopsar chopi), which can be distinguished by its glossy feathers and a distinct curve in the culmen of the beak.

Life History

Forbes's blackbird had an average lifespan of 4.6 years. It can eat insects, fruit and occasionally nectar from flowering plants or sugarcane. Its breeding season ranges from March to June, during the rainy season. Nests are most commonly found in mango trees (Mangifera indica). Egg clutch sizes can range between 1-4 eggs and it can have up to two clutches during the breeding season. After nest completion it can take anywhere between 4 and 10 days until egg laying starts. It is estimated that the population does not exceed 10,000 mature individuals.

Habitat and Range

Forbes's blackbird is a non-migratory species found in east and north-east Brazil in small and very fragmented habitats. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and plantations. The largest grouping found 150 individuals at Pedra Talhada, Alagoas. There are anywhere between 2-100 subpopulations, all of which are experiencing a continued decline of mature individuals. It has been found in small numbers around sugar cane plantations and pastures adjacent to forest patches and marshy areas. In the wild it primarily inhabits forest edge areas.

Threats

The greatest threat to Forbes's blackbird is widespread habitat destruction and degradation. It is estimated that roughly 10% of forest from the species range was lost between 2000–2012. The degradation has even reduced the amount of forest edge habitat available. Much of the destroyed forest has been converted to sugar cane plantations which the local populations may be able to withstand. Decline in population size has also been attributed to reduced reproductive success due to brood parasitism from the shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis). Nests observed from 1981-1986 has a parasitism rate of 64%, and in 1987 all nests studied were parasitized by the shiny cowbird. It has also been observed in trade due to confusion with the chopi blackbird which is valued in trade.

Conservation

Forbes's blackbird is officially recognized as Vulnerable in Brazil. It is legally protected in Rio Doce State Park and Pedra Telhada Biological Reserve where protection is enforced by guards, however the species mostly occur outside these areas. At Pedra Telhada experiments are being performed on destroying shiny cowbird eggs that have parasitized blackbird nests. Currently there are no further protections in place to protect this species.

Related Research Articles

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

The brown-headed cowbird is a small, obligate brood parasitic icterid native to temperate and subtropical North America. It is a permanent resident in the southern parts of its range; northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter, returning to their summer habitat around March or April.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooded oriole</span> Species of bird

The hooded oriole is a medium-sized New World oriole. The male of this species ranges in color from a bright orange to a paler yellow, with a black back, face, tail and bib, with the wing containing two white bars. The female is more of an olive color with some yellow accents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood parasitism</span> Subclass of parasitism, phenomenon that an animal relies on other inidivids to raise its young.

Brood parasitism is a subclass of parasitism and phenomenon and behavioural pattern of certain animals, brood parasites, that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own, usually using egg mimicry, with eggs that resemble the host's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carib grackle</span> Species of bird

The Carib grackle is a New World tropical blackbird, a resident breeder in the Lesser Antilles and northern South America east of the Andes, from Colombia east to Venezuela and northeastern Brazil. There are eight subspecies, of which the most widespread is the nominate subspecies of Trinidad and the South American mainland. This subspecies was introduced to Tobago in 1905 and is now common there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant cowbird</span> Species of bird

The giant cowbird is a large passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds from southern Mexico south to northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. It may have relatively recently colonised the latter island. It is a brood parasite and lays its eggs in the nests of other birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shiny cowbird</span> Species of bird

The shiny cowbird is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds in most of South America except for dense forests and areas of high altitude such as mountains. Since 1900 the shiny cowbird's range has shifted northward, and it was recorded in the Caribbean islands as well as the United States, where it is found breeding in southern Florida. It is a bird associated with open habitats, including disturbed land from agriculture and deforestation.

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

The white-browed meadowlark is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It was formerly named white-browed blackbird but is not closely related to the red-winged blackbird group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronzed cowbird</span> Species of bird in the Americas

The bronzed cowbird, once known as the red-eyed cowbird, is a small icterid.

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

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">Yellow-shouldered blackbird</span> Species of bird

The yellow-shouldered blackbird, known in Puerto Rican Spanish as mariquita de Puerto Rico or capitán, is a species of blackbird endemic to Puerto Rico. It has black plumage with a prominent yellow patch on the wing. Adult males and females are of similar appearance. The species is predominantly insectivorous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chalk-browed mockingbird</span> Species of bird

The chalk-browed mockingbird is a bird in the family mimidae. It is found in Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Suriname, and Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violet cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The violet cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae.

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

The red-bellied grackle is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. Its genus, Hypopyrrhus, is monotypic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martinique oriole</span> Species of bird

The Martinique oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to Martinique, French West Indies. Martinique is a part of the Lesser Antilles, and is located in the Eastern Caribbean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Lucia oriole</span> Species of bird

The Saint Lucia oriole is a species of bird, in the family Icteridae and genus Icterus. It is endemic to Saint Lucia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black catbird</span> Songbird species in the monotypic genus Melanoptila

The black catbird is a songbird species in the monotypic genus Melanoptila, part of the family Mimidae. At 19–20.5 cm (7.5–8.1 in) in length and 31.6–42 g (1.11–1.48 oz) in mass, it is the smallest of the mimids. Sexes appear similar, with glossy black plumage, black legs and bill, and dark brownish eyes. The species is endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula, and is found as far south as Campeche, northern Guatemala and northern Belize. Although there are historical records from Honduras and the US state of Texas, the species is not now known to occur in either location. It is found at low elevations in semi-arid to humid habitats ranging from shrubland and abandoned farmland to woodland with thick understory, and is primarily sedentary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screaming cowbird</span> Species of bird

The screaming cowbird is an obligate brood parasite belonging to the family Icteridae and is found in South America. It is also known commonly as the short billed cowbird.

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

The white-rumped swallow is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. First described and given its binomial name by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817, it was for many years considered a subspecies of the Chilean swallow. The species is monotypic with no known population variations. It has a white supraloral streak, or streak above its lores, which can be used to differentiate it from the Chilean swallow. The lores, ear coverts, tail, and wings are black, with white tips on the inner secondaries, tertials, and greater coverts of the wings. The rest of the upperparts are a glossy blue. Its underparts and underwing-coverts are white, in addition to the rump, as the name suggests. The sexes are similar, and the juvenile is duller and browner with a dusky breast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahama oriole</span> Species of songbird

The Bahama oriole is a species of songbird in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Bahamas, and listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Rican oriole</span> Species of bird

The Puerto Rican oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, and genus Icterus or New World blackbirds. This species is a part of a subgroup of orioles that includes the North American orchard oriole, Icterus spurius, and the hooded oriole, Icterus cucullatus.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2020). "Anumara forbesi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T22724274A172279232. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22724274A172279232.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  1. BirdLife International. 2017. Anumara forbesi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22724274A119070155. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22724274A119070155.en.
  2. Tracewski, L., Butchart, S.H.M., Di Marco, M., Ficetola, G.F., Rondinini, C., Symes, A., Wheatley, H., Beresford, A.E. and Buchanan, G.M. 2016. Toward quantification of the impact of 21st-century deforestation on the extinction risk of terrestrial vertebrates. Conservation Biology.
  3. Silveira, L.F. and Straube, F.C. 2008. Aves. In: Machado, A.B.M., Drummond, G.M. and Paglia, A.P. (eds), Livro vermelho da fauna brasileira ameaçada de extinção. Vol. 2, pp. 378–679. Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Brasília & Fundação Biodiversitas. , Belo Horizonte, Brazil.