Icterid

Icterids (/ˈɪktərɪd/) or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae (/ɪkˈtɛrɪdi/), of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. The species in the family vary widely in size, shape, behavior, and coloration. The name, meaning "jaundiced ones" (from the prominent yellow feathers of many species) comes from the Ancient Greek ikteros via the Latin ictericus. This group includes the New World blackbirds, New World orioles, the bobolink, meadowlarks, grackles, cowbirds, oropendolas, and caciques.

Icterids
Adult male Bullock's oriole
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Superfamily: Emberizoidea
Family: Icteridae
Vigors, 1825
Genera

29, See text

Despite the similar names, the first groups are only distantly related to the Old World common blackbird (a thrush) or the Old World orioles.

The Icteridae are not to be confused with the Icteriidae, a family created in 2017 and consisting of one species — the yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens).[1]

Characteristics

Most icterid species live in the tropics, although many species also occur in temperate regions, such as the red-winged blackbird and the long-tailed meadowlark. The highest densities of breeding species are found in Colombia and southern Mexico.[2] They inhabit a range of habitats, including scrub, swamp, forest, and savanna.[3] Temperate species are migratory, with many species that nest in the United States and Canada moving south into Mexico and Central America.

Breeding male Brewer's blackbird apparently gaping (see text) in soil

Icterids are variable in size, and often display considerable sexual dimorphism, with brighter coloration and greater size in males being typical. While such dimorphism is widely known in passerines, the sexual dimorphism by size is uniquely extreme in icterids. For example, the male great-tailed grackle is 60% heavier than the female. The smallest icterid species is the orchard oriole, in which the female averages 15 cm in length (6 in) and 18 g (0.040 lb) in weight, while the largest is the Amazonian oropendola, the male of which measures 52 cm (20 in) and weighs about 550 g (1.21 lb). This variation is greater than in any other passerine family (unless the kinglet calyptura belongs with the cotingas, which would then have greater variation[4]). One unusual morphological adaptation shared by the icterids is gaping, where the skull is configured to allow them open their bills strongly rather than passively, allowing them to force open gaps to obtain otherwise hidden food.

Icterids have adapted to taking a wide range of foods. Oropendolas and caciques use their gaping motion to open the skins of fruit to obtain the soft insides, and have long bills adapted to the process. Others such as cowbirds and the bobolink have shorter, stubbier bills for crushing seeds. The Jamaican blackbird uses its bill to pry amongst tree bark and epiphytes, and has adopted the evolutionary niche filled elsewhere in the Neotropics by woodcreepers. Orioles drink nectar.

The nesting habits of these birds are also variable, including pendulous woven nests in the oropendolas and orioles. Many icterids are colonial, nesting in colonies of up to 100,000 birds. Some cowbird species engage in brood parasitism; females lay their eggs in the nests of other species, in a similar fashion to some cuckoos.[3]

Some species of icterid have become agricultural pests; for example, red-winged blackbirds in the United States are considered the worst vertebrate pests on some crops, such as rice.[5] The cost of controlling blackbirds in California was $30 per acre in 1994. Not all species have been as successful, and a number of species are threatened with extinction. These include insular forms such as the Jamaican blackbird, yellow-shouldered blackbird, and St Lucia oriole, all threatened by habitat loss; and the tricolored blackbird of California, which is threatened by habitat loss and destruction of nests.

Folklore

Cacique and oropendola species are called paucar or similar names in Peru.[6][7] As paucares are considered very intelligent, Native Americans feed the brains to their children to make them fast learners.[8] As the male plays no part in nesting and care of the young, a man who does not work may be called a "male paucar".[9]

Systematics

For more details, see List of icterid species.

FAMILY ICTERIDAE

ImageGenusLiving Species
Dolichonyx Swainson, 1827
  • Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus
Agelaius Vieillot, 1816
  • Red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus
  • Red-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius assimilis
  • Tricolored blackbird, Agelaius tricolor
  • Tawny-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius humeralis
  • Yellow-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius xanthomus
Xanthopsar Ridgway, 1901
  • Saffron-cowled blackbird, Xanthopsar flavus
Agelasticus Cabanis, 1851
  • Pale-eyed blackbird, Agelasticus xanthophthalmus
  • Yellow-winged blackbird, Agelasticus thilius
  • Unicolored blackbird, Agelasticus cyanopus
Chrysomus Swainson, 1837
  • Yellow-hooded blackbird, Chrysomus icterocephalus
  • Chestnut-capped blackbird, Chrysomus ruficapillus
Nesopsar P.L. Sclater, 1859
  • Jamaican blackbird, Nesopsar nigerrimus
Sturnella Vieillot, 1816
  • Eastern meadowlark, Sturnella magna
  • Lilian's meadowlark, S. lilianae
  • Western meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta
Leistes Vigors, 1825
  • Red-breasted meadowlark, Leistes militaris
  • White-browed meadowlark, Leistes superciliaris
  • Peruvian meadowlark, Leistes bellicosus
  • Pampas meadowlark, Leistes defillippi
  • Long-tailed meadowlark, Leistes loyca
Xanthocephalus Bonaparte, 1850
  • Yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Dives Cassin, 1867
  • Cuban blackbird, Dives atroviolacea
  • Melodious blackbird, Dives dives
  • Scrub blackbird, Dives warszewiczi
Euphagus Cassin, 1867
  • Brewer's blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus
  • Rusty blackbird, Euphagus carolinus
Quiscalus Vieillot, 1816
  • Boat-tailed grackle, Quiscalus major
  • Common grackle, Quiscalus quiscula
  • Great-tailed grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus
  • Nicaraguan grackle, Quiscalus nicaraguensis
  • Greater Antillean grackle, Quiscalus niger
  • Carib grackle, Quiscalus lugubris
  • Slender-billed grackle, Quiscalus palustris
Agelaioides Cassin, 1866
  • Grayish baywing, Agelaioides badius
  • Pale baywing, Agelaioides fringillarius
Molothrus Swainson, 1832
  • Screaming cowbird, Molothrus rufoaxillaris
  • Giant cowbird, Molothrus oryzivorus
  • Bronzed cowbird, Molothrus aeneus
  • Shiny cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis
  • Brown-headed cowbird, Molothrus ater
Icterus Brisson, 1760
  • 30 species
Amblycercus Cabanis, 1851
  • yellow-billed cacique, Amblycercus holosericeus
Cassiculus Swainson, 1827
  • Mexican cacique or yellow-winged cacique, Cassiculus melanicterus
Cacicus Lacepede, 1799
  • Yellow-rumped cacique, Cacicus cela
  • Red-rumped cacique, Cacicus haemorrhous
  • Scarlet-rumped cacique, Cacicus uropygialis
    • Subtropical cacique, Cacicus (uropygialis) uropygialis
    • Scarlet-rumped cacique, Cacicus (uropygialis) microrhynchus
    • Pacific cacique, Cacicus (uropygialis/microrhynchus) pacificus
  • Selva cacique, Cacicus koepckeae
  • Golden-winged cacique, Cacicus chrysopterus
  • Mountain cacique, Cacicus chrysonotus
    • Southern mountain cacique, Cacicus (chrysonotus) chrysonotus
    • Northern mountain cacique, Cacicus (chrysonotus) leucoramphus
  • Ecuadorian cacique, Cacicus sclateri
  • Solitary cacique, Cacicus solitarius
  • Band-tailed oropendola, Cacicus latirostris
  • Casqued oropendola, Cacicus oseryi
Psarocolius Wagler, 1827
  • Black oropendola, Psarocolius guatimozinus
  • Chestnut-headed oropendola, Psarocolius wagleri
  • Russet-backed oropendola, Psarocolius angustifrons
  • Dusky-green oropendola, Psarocolius atrovirens
  • Green oropendola, Psarocolius viridis
  • Crested oropendola, Psarocolius decumanus
  • Montezuma oropendola, Psarocolius montezuma
  • Baudo oropendola, Psarocolius cassini
  • Olive oropendola, Psarocolius bifasciatus
Gymnomystax L. Reichenbach, 1850
  • Oriole blackbird, Gymnomystax mexicanus
Pseudoleistes P.L. Sclater, 1862
  • Yellow-rumped marshbird, Pseudoleistes guirahuro
  • Brown-and-yellow marshbird, Pseudoleistes virescens
Amblyramphus Leach, 1814
  • Scarlet-headed blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus
Hypopyrrhus Bonaparte, 1850
  • Red-bellied grackle, Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster
Curaeus (PL Sclater, 1862)
  • Austral blackbird,Curaeus curaeus
Anumara Powell et al., 2014
  • Forbes's Blackbird, Anumara forbesi
Gnorimopsar Richmond, 1908
  • Chopi blackbird, Gnorimopsar chopi
Oreopsar WL Sclater, 1939
  • Bolivian blackbird, Oreopsar bolivianus
Lampropsar Cabanis, 1847
  • Velvet-fronted grackle, Lampropsar tanagrinus
Macroagelaius Cassin, 1866
  • Golden-tufted mountain grackle, Macroagelaius imthurni
  • Colombian mountain grackle, Macroagelaius subalaris

Prehistoric icterid genera that have been described from Pleistocene fossil remains are Pandanaris from Rancho La Brea and Pyelorhamphus from Shelter Cave.

References

  1. Chesser, R. Terry; Burns, Kevin J.; Cicero, Carla; Dunn, Jon L.; Kratter, Andrew W.; Lovette, Irby J.; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Remsen, J. V.; Rising, James D. (2017). "Fifty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds". The Auk. 134 (3): 751–773. doi:10.1642/auk-17-72.1.
  2. Lowther P (1975) "Geographic and Ecological Variation in the Family Icteridae" Wilson Bulletin 87 (4): 481-495
  3. Parkes, Kenneth C. (1991), Forshaw, Joseph (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds, London: Merehurst Press, pp. 214–215, ISBN 1-85391-186-0
  4. Prum, Richard O.; Snow, David W. (2003), "Cotingas", in Christopher Perrins (ed.), Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds, Firefly Books, pp. 432–433, ISBN 1-55297-777-3
  5. Dolbeer, R & S Ickes (1994) "Red-winged Blackbird feeding preferences and response to wild rice treated with Portland cement or plaster" Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings collection Proceedings of the Sixteenth Vertebrate Pest Conference (1994) (W.S. Halverson& A.C. Crabb, Eds.) Univ. of Calif.:Davis.
  6. Manu Peru Manu - Aves, Enjoy Corporation S. A., 2007, archived from the original on 2006-02-25, retrieved 2007-09-28
  7. Muyuna Amazon Lodge, Iquitos - Peru, retrieved 2007-09-28. Click the link to Fauna and scroll forward one page.
  8. Moyobamba - Peru, 2007, archived from the original on 2008-01-06, retrieved 2007-09-28. The source given is Moyobamba, apuntes turísticos y geográficos by Pedro Vargas Roja.
  9. Aves en Soritor - Distrito de soritor Moyobamba - Alto Mayo - San Martín - Peru, 2006, retrieved 2007-09-28

Further reading

  • Powell, A.F.L.A.; Barker, F.K.; Lanyon, S.M.; Burns, K.J.; Klicka, J.; Lovette, I.J. (2014). "A comprehensive species-level molecular phylogeny of the New World blackbirds (Icteridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 71: 94–112. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.11.009. PMID 24291659.
  • Remsen, J.V. Jr.; Powell, A.F.L.A.; Schodde, R.; Barker, F.K.; Lanyon, S.M. (2016). "A revised classification of the Icteridae (Aves) based on DNA sequence data". Zootaxa. 4093 (2): 285–292. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4093.2.9. PMID 27394496.
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