Black Catbird

Identification

At 19–20.5 cm (7.5–8.1 in) in length and 31.6–42 g (1.11–1.48 oz) in mass, the black catbird is the smallest of the mimids. It has short, rounded wings and a relatively long tail. The sexes are similar in appearance, though the male tends to be heavier. The plumage is glossy black with a purplish sheen overall, though the rectrices and primary and secondary coverts have a greenish sheen and the remiges are a duller blackish-brown color showing reduced sheen. The female is less glossy than the male, and juveniles are brownish-gray with mottling below. The legs are black. The bill, which is black and shorter than the head, has a generally straight culmen, decurved toward the tip. The iris is a dark reddish color in adults and gray in juveniles.<p>Although the black catbird is unlikely to be mistaken for any other mimid species, there are several other black birds — including the melodious blackbird, the bronzed cowbird and the giant cowbird — that occur within the same range and might conceivably cause confusion. All are birds of more open habitats. The melodious blackbird is larger and longer tailed; it has dark eyes and a stocky bill with an evenly curved culmen. The bronzed cowbird is thicker necked than is the catbird and has a bronzy, rather than purplish or greenish gloss to its plumage; its eye is bright red rather than dark red. The giant cowbird is considerably larger, and is relatively longer tailed and thicker necked than is the catbird.

Taxonomy

When Philip Sclater first described the black catbird in 1858, from a specimen collected in Omoa Honduras, he assigned it to the monotypic genus Melanoptila, which he created at the same time. At least one subsequent ornithologist assigned the species to the genus Turdus, believing it to be a thrush, but most agreed with Sclater's assessment. DNA studies have since shown that it is most closely related to various endemic Antillean mimids and the gray catbird, and it is sometimes included with the latter species in the genus Dumetella. Although some taxonomists place the birds from Mexico's Cozumel Island in a separate subspecies (M. g. cozumelana), most authorities do not feel that such distinction is warranted and the species is generally regarded as monotypic throughout its range.<p>The genus name Melanoptila is a compound word created from two Greek words: melas, meaning "black" and ptilon, meaning "plumage". This and the "black" of the bird's common name are a straightforward reference to its general appearance. The species name glabrirostris is a combination of two Latin words: glaber, meaning "smooth or hairless" and rostrum, meaning "beak". This is a reference to the very small rictal bristles which surround the black catbird's beak, in marked comparison to the prominent bristles found on the gray catbird.

Scientific name

Melanoptila glabrirostris

Authority

Sclater, PL, 1858

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Mimidae

Genus

Melanoptila

Range and habitat

The black catbird is endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula. It occurs as far south as the Mexican state of Campeche, northern Guatemala and northern Belize, and is found on the offshore islands of Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Lighthouse Reef and Glover's Reef. Although the type specimen of the bird was apparently collected in northwestern Honduras in 1855 or 1856, it has not been recorded in that country since, and must have been rare if it was ever there. Some authors feel that the specimen might have been mislabeled, and have come instead from northwestern "British Honduras" as Belize was then called. There is also a single specimen of a black catbird collected from Brownsville, Texas in 1892. Although obtained by a reportedly reputable collector, and accepted by the Texas State Records Committee, the origin of this specimen is a source of some controversy, and it has not been accepted by the American Birding Association or the American Ornithologists' Union.<p>The species is found at low elevations in semi-arid to humid areas in habitats ranging from scrubland and abandoned farmland to wood edge. It prefers areas with dense thickets, scrub or understory, and is uncommon in taller forest where the vegetation beneath the canopy is more open. Although it is largely sedentary, there may be some localized seasonal movements away from the drier northern parts of the Yucatán Peninsula in late summer to early winter.

Migration

Resident species

Behavior

Migration pattern: Resident species.

Conservation

Population trend: declining.

Population trend

declining