Blue-black Grosbeak - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies cyanoides
Photo by Luis R
Barinitas, Venezuela, September 2014

Cyanoloxia cyanoides

Includes: Rothschild's Grosbeak

Identification

Female or young male, subspecies cyanoides
Photo by njlarsen
San Francisco Reserve, eastern Panama, January 2018

17–18·5 cm (6¾-7¼ in)
Male

• Shiny blue-black overall plumage
• Lighter blue rump
• Brighter blue forehead and superciliary area

Female: dark brown overall plumage

Distribution

Central and South America: in)
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Subspecies concreta
Photo by JWN Andrewes
Cockscomb, Belize, March 2007

There are four subspecies^[1]:

• C. c. concreta:

• Lowlands of south-eastern Mexico (Veracruz) to Guatemala and Honduras

• C. c. toddi: (also known as caerulescens)

• Nicaragua to Costa Rica and western Panama

• C. c. cyanoides:

• Central and eastern Panama to Colombia, north-western Venezuela and western Ecuador

• C. c. rothschildii:

• Eastern Colombia to Venezuela, the Guianas, Amazonian Brazil and Bolivia - split as Rothschild's Grosbeak by Gill and Donsker. Also placed in genus Cyanocompsa by Gill and Donsker.

Habitat

Humid evergreen forest, thickets, and dense vegetation may also been seen in dry scrub.

Behaviour

Diet

Their mostly vegetarian diet consists of seeds, from grass, bamboo, maize and rice.

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. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird Names (version 5.2). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. Avibase
4. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Feb 2018)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Blue-black Grosbeak. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue-black_Grosbeak

External Links

Search for photos of Blue-black Grosbeak in the gallery