Blue-and-white Mockingbird
Melanotis hypoleucus
Skulking and heard far more often than seen, this fairly large and ample-tailed songbird replaces Blue Mockingbird in highlands and foothills south of Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Favors thickets, dense scrubby woodlands, and forest understory. Behavior similar to Blue Mockingbird: skulking and difficult to see clearly. Plumage striking: denim-blue above with a black mask, white below. Varied songs and calls similar to Blue Mockingbird.
Identification
The blue-and-white mockingbird is 24.2 to 28 cm (9.5 to 11.0 in) long; 20 specimens had a mean mass of 68 g (2.4 oz). The adults' upperparts are a dull slate blue that is slightly brighter on the crown. The wings and tail are slaty black. A conspicuous black "mask" covers from the lores past the eye. The underparts are white darkening to bluish or slate gray on the flanks and vent area. The juvenile has a similar pattern but its upperparts are dull slaty gray instead of blue.
Taxonomy
The blue-and-white mockingbird is monotypic. It and the blue mockingbird (Melanotis caerulescens) are the only species in their genus.
- Scientific name
- Melanotis hypoleucus
- Authority
- Hartlaub, 1852
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Mimidae
- Genus
- Melanotis
Range and habitat
The blue-and-white mockingbird is a year round resident of Mexico from south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec through Guatemala to El Salvador and southern Honduras. It inhabits a variety of landscapes including the edges of humid evergreen forest, pine-oak forest, second growth, and humid and semi-arid scrublands. In elevation it ranges between 900 and 3,000 m (3,000 and 9,800 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The blue-and-white mockingbird primarily forages on the ground, by sweeping aside leaf litter with its bill. Though its diet has not been fully documented, its primary food appears to be invertebrates and it also eats small fruits.<p>The blue-and-white mockingbird's breeding season extends at least from May to August. Females build the nest, a shallow cup of fibrous roots on top of a platform of sticks. It is placed in dense thickets or small trees. The clutch size is two. The female incubates the eggs and broods the nestlings but both sexes feed them.<p>The blue-and-white mockingbird's song has been described as "an amazing medley of bird notes...[including] a rapid series of monosyllables, now a shrill squeak, now a whistle, now a guttural croak...certainly not musical or harmonious". It also has a wide variety of calls.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Crested Finchbill
Spizixos canifrons
Tea-green bulbul with a dark gray head and a spiffy erect crest. Black-crested Bulbul is structurally somewhat similar but is darker green with an all-black head and pale eyes. Crested Finchbill inhabits middle to upper-elevation forests and edges, where it often gathers in very large flocks. Bold and approachable; can often be found in field edges, parks, and gardens. Gives distinctively bubbly ascending trills, often in distinct phrases.
Cocoa Thrush
Turdus fumigatus
A medium-sized, bright-buff bird usually found foraging on the ground in a variety of habitats from croplands to forests. Best separated from similar Spectacled Thrush by its all black bill and lack of bold eyering. Song is a series of sweet up-slurred and down-slurred whistles. Calls are quite different than Spectacled Thrush and include a quick, slightly squeaky “ji-ji-ji-ji-ji” and a paired “chee-ip, chee-ip.”
Karoo Thrush
Turdus smithi
A typical mostly olive-brown thrush, with rufous coloration restricted to the center of the belly. It is most easily identified by range. Pairs occupy dense scrub and thickets in arid savanna and Karoo, grassland, and urban gardens on the South African highveld. The species gives a varied song and typical thrush “chk-chk” or thin “tseeep” calls. It is an understory specialist that sometimes skulks, but at other times can be quite bold. The similar Olive Thrush differs from Karoo Thrush in its rufous (not olive) flanks, its brown (not yellow-orange) eye-ring, its dark brown (not yellow) base to the upper mandible of the bill, and its streakier throat.
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