Bananaquit

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Bananaquit
In
São Paulo, Brazil

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this 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
  • Certhia flaveola Linnaeus, 1758
  • Certhiola martinicensis
  • Certhiola dominicana Taylor, 1864

The bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) is a species of

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

passerines of tropical America; cf. grassquit, orangequit.[2]

Taxonomy

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

Thraupidae and belongs with Darwin's finches to the subfamily Coerebinae.[12][13][14]

It is still unclear if any of the island

International Ornithological Congress listed bahamensis and bartholemica as proposed splits from C. flaveola.[17]

Subspecies

There are 41 currently recognized subspecies:[14]

  • C. f. bahamensis (
    Reichenbach
    , 1853)
    : Bahamas
  • C. f. caboti (
    Yucatan Peninsula
    and nearby islands
  • C. f. flaveola (
    nominate
    , Jamaica
  • C. f. sharpei (Cory, 1886): Cayman Is.
  • C. f. bananivora (Gmelin, 1789): Hispaniola and nearby islands
  • C. f. nectarea Wetmore, 1929: Tortue I.
  • C. f. portoricensis (Bryant, 1866): Puerto Rico
  • C. f. sanctithomae (Sundevall, 1869): north Virgin Is.
  • C. f. newtoni (Baird, 1873): Saint Croix (south Virgin Is.)
  • C. f. bartholemica (
    Sparrman
    , 1788)
    : north and central Lesser Antilles
  • C. f. martinicana (Reichenbach, 1853): Martinique and Saint Lucia (south central Lesser Antilles)
  • C. f. barbadensis (Baird, 1873): Barbados
  • C. f. atrata (Lawrence, 1878): St. Vincent (south Lesser Antilles)
  • C. f. aterrima (
    Lesson, 1830): Grenada and the Grenadines
    (south Lesser Antilles)
  • C. f. uropygialis von Berlepsch, 1892: Aruba and Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles)
  • C. f. tricolor (Ridgway, 1884): Providencia I. (off east Nicaragua)
  • C. f. oblita Griscom, 1923: San Andrés I. (off east Nicaragua)
  • C. f. mexicana (Sclater, 1857): southeastern Mexico to western Panama
  • C. f. cerinoclunis Bangs, 1901: Pearl Is. (south of Panama)
  • C. f. columbiana (Cabanis, 1866): eastern Panama to southwestern Colombia and southern Venezuela
  • C. f. bonairensis Voous, 1955: Bonaire I. (Netherlands Antilles)
  • C. f. melanornis
    Phelps
    , 1954
    : Cayo Sal I. (off Venezuela)
  • C. f. lowii Cory, 1909: Los Roques Is. (off Venezuela)
  • C. f. ferryi Cory, 1909: La Tortuga I. (off Venezuela)
  • C. f. frailensis Phelps & Phelps, 1946:
    Los Frailes and Los Hermanos Is.
    (off Venezuela)
  • C. f. laurae Lowe, 1908: Los Testigos (off Venezuela)
  • C. f. luteola (Cabanis, 1850): coastal northern Colombia and Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago
  • C. f. obscura Cory, 1913: northeastern Colombia and western Venezuela
  • C. f. minima (Bonaparte, 1854): eastern Colombia and southern Venezuela to French Guiana and north central Brazil
  • C. f. montana Lowe, 1912: Andes of northwestern Venezuela
  • C. f. caucae Chapman, 1914: western Colombia
  • C. f. gorgonae
    Gorgona I.
    (off western Colombia)
  • C. f. intermedia (Salvadori & Festa, 1899): southwestern Colombia, western Ecuador and northern Peru east to southern Venezuela and western Brazil
  • C. f. bolivari
    Zimmer
    & Phelps, 1946
    : eastern Venezuela
  • C. f. guianensis (Cabanis, 1850): southeastern Venezuela to Guyana
  • C. f. roraimae Chapman, 1929: tepui regions of southeastern Venezuela, southwestern Guyana and northern Brazil
  • C. f. pacifica Lowe, 1912: eastern Peru
  • C. f. magnirostris (Taczanowski, 1880): northern Peru
  • C. f. dispar Zimmer, 1942: north central Peru to western Bolivia
  • C. f. chloropyga (Cabanis, 1850): east central Peru to central Bolivia and east to eastern Brazil, northern Uruguay, northeastern Argentina and Paraguay
  • C. f. alleni Lowe, 1912: eastern Bolivia to central Brazil

Subspecies gallery

Description

Juvenile bananaquits are duller than adults and may have yellow eyebrows and throat

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

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]

Distribution and habitat

Bananaquit in its nest. Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

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]

Behaviour and ecology

MHNT
A bananaquit feeding on an orange in the Morne Diablotins National Park in Dominica

The bananaquit has a slender, curved bill, adapted to taking

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]

References

  1. . Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  2. ^ Reedman, R. (2016). Lapwings, Loons and Lousy Jacks: The How and Why of Bird Names. United Kingdom: Pelagic Publishing.
  3. ^ Linnaeus 1758, p. 119.
  4. ^ Ray, John (1713). Synopsis methodica avium & piscium (in Latin). Vol. Avium. London: William Innys. p. 187, No. 45.
  5. ^ Sloane, Hans (1725). A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica : with the natural history of the herbs and trees, four-footed beasts, fishes, birds, insects, reptiles, &c. of the last of those islands. Vol. 2. London: Printed for the author. p. 307, Plate 259 fig. 3.
  6. ^ Edwards, George (1750). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Vol. Part 3. London: Printed for the author at the College of Physicians. p. 122, Plate 122.
  7. ^ Vieillot 1809, p. 70.
  8. .
  9. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 87.
  10. .
  11. .
  12. .
  13. .
  14. ^ . IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  15. ^ a b Seutin et al. 1994
  16. ^ a b Bellemain, Bermingham & Ricklefs 2008
  17. ^ "Updates: Candidates". IOC World Bird List. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  18. ^ "Bananaquit". anywherecostarica.com. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  19. ^ "Bananaquit". enature.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  20. ^ "Bananaquits". birdingguide.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  21. ^ Diamond 1973
  22. S2CID 227065725
    .
  23. ^ a b c Raffaele et al. 1998
  24. ^ Howell & Webb 1995
  25. ^ a b c Restall, Rodner & Lentino 2006
  26. ^
    S2CID 202854049
    .
  27. ^ a b Dunning 2001
  28. ^ "The Ecology of Eleutherodactylus coqui". issg Database. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2006.
  29. ^
    ISSN 0066-4162
    .
  30. .
  31. ^ a b c d De Boer 1993, p. 105
  32. ^ "Coereba flaveola (Bananaquit)". Animal Diversity Web.
  33. ^ https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/banana/cur/introduction
  34. ^ "Coereba flaveola (Bananaquit or Sugar Bird)" (PDF). The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  35. ^ Monteiro Pereira 2008, p. 120

Literature cited

Further reading

External links