Red-breasted Meadowlark
Leistes militaris
This attractive meadowlark is found in open fields. It often perches conspicuously atop grasses or small bushes. Male is unmistakable, mostly black with bright red breast and throat. Female is less obvious. She is brown and streaky, but look for the sharply pointed bill (like a blackbird), overall buffy brown coloration, and brown-and-buff stripes on head. The streaking is mostly concentrated on the sides of the breast and flanks, not in the middle of the breast and belly. Listen for song: several metallic chips followed by a raspy buzz.
识别特征
The red-breasted meadowlark is a small icterid, 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weighing 40–48 g (1.4–1.7 oz). Males are larger than females. The male has mainly black plumage, apart from a bright red throat, belly and wing epaulets. This striking "redcoat" plumage gives rise to the specific name militaris and the Trinidadian name "soldier bird". The female has buff edged dark brown upperpart feathers, buff underparts with a reddish tinge, and pale streaks through the crown and eye. Juveniles resemble the female, but are paler and lack the reddish tint to the underparts.<p>This species is very closely related to the white-browed meadowlark, S. superciliaris which breeds further south, and was formerly considered to be subspecies of red-breasted meadowlark. The male white-browed is easily distinguished by his bright white supercilium, but females of the two species are almost identical. Female red-breasted meadowlarks are longer billed, smaller, and shorter winged than their relative, with more red and less streaking on the underparts.
分类信息
The red-breasted meadowlark was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the buntings in the genus Emberiza and coined the binomial name Emberiza militaris. Linnaeus cited his own catalogue of the cabinet of curiosities belonging to the king of Sweden, Adolf Frederick, as well as the description and illustration of the "Greater Bull-Finch" by the English naturalist George Edwards's that had been published in 1747. Neither Edwards nor Linnaeus knew the origin of their specimens but in 1902 the German ornithologists Hans von Berlepsch and Ernst Hartert designated type locality as Suriname. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- 学名
- Leistes militaris
- 命名信息
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Icteridae
- 属
- Leistes
分布与栖息地
The red-breasted meadowlark is resident from south-western Costa Rica, which it has recently colonised, and Trinidad, south to north-eastern Peru and central Brazil. In 2008, it was sighted for the first time in Nicaragua.<p>Like other meadowlarks, it is a bird associated with open country, including moist grasslands, pasture and cultivation, preferably with the odd bush or fence post for males to use as a songpost. It has benefited from the more open habitat created by forest clearance and ranching, and is extending its range. It is uncertain whether sightings on Tobago represent a small breeding population or wanderers from Trinidad or South America.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
Migration pattern: Resident species.
保护状况
Population trend: rising.
- 种群趋势
- rising
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
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A gregarious mostly dark-gray helmetshrike. Note the piercing orange eye, blue eye wattles, chestnut forehead patch, red legs, and orange bill. Small to medium-sized flocks inhabit coastal forest and lush woodland. Often in mixed flocks, most often with Retz’s Helmetshrike. Vocalizations include tearing notes, croaks, and bill snaps. Similar to Retz’s Helmetshrike, but easily separated by the chestnut forehead and blue rather than red eye wattles.
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Unmistakable huge macaw with cobalt blue plumage contrasting with a yellow eyering and bill base. Found at forest borders, in open woodland, and in savanna with palm trees, where mostly seen in pairs but also in small flocks. Feeds on palm fruits on the ground or in trees. Gives a series of loud croaking 'kraaa' notes.
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