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Chestnut-headed Oropendola - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Reini
Sarapiqui Rainforest, North West Costa Rica, February 2005
Psarocolius wagleri

Identification

Length: 11-14" (28-36 cm)
Head, neck, rump, lower belly, chestnut; tail yellow with dark center feathers and outermost webs of outermost feathers; otherwise black. Ivory to yellowish bill, blue eye.

Similar species

Crested Oropendola is larger, head black as body, chestnut on underside limited to undertail coverts, and only shows dusky central tail feathers while the outer tail feathers are all yellow.

Distribution

Subspecies ridgwayi
Photo by Stanley Jones
Canopy Lodge, El Valle de Antón, Coclé Province, Panama, December 2017

Central and South America
Central America: South-eastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
South America: Colombia and Ecuador.

Taxonomy

This species is sometimes placed as the only species in the genus Zarhynchus.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized[1]:

  • P. w. wagleri:
  • P. w. ridgwayi:

Habitat

Lowland habitats from rainforests to roadside trees

Behaviour

Forages mostly high in canopy, hopping and running along branches with speed and agility.

Diet

Their diet consists of frogs and lizards, insects and arthropods. They also eat fruit and nectar from large flowers.

Breeding

They are polygynous; nesting is colonially in isolated trees or groves.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Ridgely & Gwynne 1989. Birds of Panama. Princeton Paperbacks. ISBN 0691025126
  4. BF Member observations

Recommended Citation

External Links

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