- Icterus cayanensis
Identification
Mostly black, the epaulet consisting of the upper wing-coverts. Some subspecies have a yellow epaulet and yellow thighs (e.g., I. c. tibialis) while other sub-species have an ochre-orange epaulet (see second photo).
Distribution
Most of South America.
Taxonomy
Polytypic, consists of six subspecies1:
- I. c. chrysocephalus
- I. c. cayanensis
- Suriname to French Guiana, Amazonian Brazil, eastern Peru and eastern Bolivia
- I. c. tibialis
- Eastern Brazil
- I. c. valenciobuenoi
- South-eastern Brazil
- I. c. periporphyrus
- I. c. pyrrhopterus
Habitat
Woodland, thorny scrub and gardens.
Behaviour
The diet includes insects and nectar.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
- Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
- Arthur Grosset