Tropical Mockingbird
Mimus gilvus
Tropical counterpart to Northern Mockingbird of North America. Common and often conspicuous in open and semi-open lowland tropical areas, perching on roadside wires and bare snags. Silvery gray above and whitish below with a long rounded tail that is black with a bold white tip. Lacks the big white wing patches of Northern Mockingbird, and the ranges of the two species do not really overlap. Varied calls and loud mimic song is much like Northern Mockingbird.
Identification
Adult tropical mockingbirds are 23 to 25.5 cm (9.1 to 10.0 in) long. The mean weights of various subspecies vary greatly. Adults of the nominate subspecies are gray on the head and upper parts and have a whitish supercilium and a dark stripe through the eye. The underparts are off-white and the wings are blackish with two white wing bars and white edges to the flight feathers. They have a long dark tail with white feather tips, a slim black bill with a slight downward curve and long dark legs. Juveniles are browner and their chest and flanks have dusky streaks.<p>The subspecies vary in overall size and the length of wings and tail, the intensity of their plumage colors, the extent of pale markings, and eye color. M. g. magnirostris is the largest and has a significantly heavier bill than the others; M. g. tolimensis is also larger than the nominate.
Taxonomy
The tropical mockingbird has sometimes been considered conspecific with its closest living relative, the northern mockingbird (Milvus polyglottos) and forms a superspecies with it. The critically endangered Socorro mockingbird (M. graysoni) is also much closer to these two than previously believed.<p>The tropical mockingbird has these ten subspecies:<p>M. g. antelius and M. g. magnirostris have been suggested as separate species but morphological and vocal evidence for the potential splits are weak.
- Scientific name
- Mimus gilvus
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1808)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Mimidae
- Genus
- Mimus
Range and habitat
The subspecies of the tropical mockingbird are distributed thus:<p>The population of M. g. tolimensis in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama are descendants of escaped cage birds imported from Colombia.<p>The tropical mockingbird is common in most open habitats, including around human habitation. Examples include scrublands, savannas, parks, and farmlands. It avoids closed forests and mangroves. It is a bird of the lowlands to middle elevations; it reaches about 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in Central American and the northern Andes. It has been found as high as 2,600 m (8,500 ft) in Colombia and 3,100 m (10,200 ft) in northern Ecuador.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Solomons Island-Thrush
Turdus kulambangrae
Dark thrush with orange bill, eyering, legs, and feet. Endemic to the montane forests of Guadalcanal and Kolombangara, in the southern Solomons. Forages at all levels of forest, including on the forest floor. Calls include harsh chupping calls, often given in bursts.
Monotonous Lark
Mirafra passerina
A medium-small, compact lark with a small bill, a plain face, and an indistinct eyebrow. It has streaky upperparts with a distinct rufous wing panel and a lightly-streaked buffy chest that separates the white throat from the pale belly. Its movement patterns are poorly understood; it is nomadic, appearing unpredictably in large numbers to breed after rain. The male sits on perches, incessantly singing a croaking, gurgling, distinctive four-note “for-syrup-is-sweet” song every 3-5 seconds for hours on end, day and night, earning it its name. When singing, the male stretches its neck, puffs out its whitish throat feathers, and raises a small crest. Occasionally the male rises up 5-10 meters in the air on rapidly flapping wings, sings, and parachutes back down to a prominent perch. The similar Latakoo Lark is smaller than the Monotonous Lark, with a bolder facial pattern including an eyebrow, and a different song and display.
Gray Honeyeater
Conopophila whitei
Small plain desert honeyeater of inland Western and central Australia that is seldom observed. Relatively short, decurved bill and extremely plain plumage, gray above, paler gray below, with no obvious field marks other than faint pale tips to some tail feathers. Compare Western Gerygone, which has thinner bill and slight eyebrow. Usually seen singly or in pairs. Call is very distinctive and squeaky, a perky three-note "widdle-dit."
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