Western chat-tanager
| Western chat-tanager | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Incertae sedis |
| Genus: | Calyptophilus |
| Species: | C. tertius |
| Binomial name | |
| Calyptophilus tertius Wetmore, 1929 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Calyptophilus frugivorus tertius | |
The western chat-tanager (Calyptophilus tertius) is a passerine bird belonging to the tanager family, Thraupidae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the eastern chat-tanager (C. frugivorus) but is now usually considered to be a separate species. There is a high degree of divergence between the two in mitochondrial DNA and intron sequences. Speciation is likely to have occurred on two ancient islands which later fused to form present-day Hispaniola.[1]
It is 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long. The upperparts are dark brown. The breast and throat are white shading into the grey-brown belly and flanks. There is a yellow patch between the eye and bill. The tail is long and rounded. The bird has whistling and buzzing calls. The eastern chat-tanager is similar but has a bare yellow ring around the eye and is smaller at 17 cm (6.7 in).
The western chat-tanager inhabits wet forest in mountainous areas. It occurs in southern Haiti and in the Sierra de Bahoruco in the south-west of the Dominican Republic. It mainly forages on the ground.
References
- ↑ Andrea K. Townsend, Christopher C. Rimmer, Steven C. Latta & Irby J. Lovette (2007). "Ancient differentiation in the single-island avian radiation of endemic Hispaniolan chat-tanagers (Aves: Calyptophilus)". Molecular Ecology 16 (17): 3634–3642. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03422.x. PMID 17845436.
- Raffaele, Herbert; Wiley, James; Garrido, Orlando; Keith, Allan & Raffaele, Janis (2003) Birds of the West Indies, Christopher Helm, London.