Caciques
Caique Species Photo Gallery
The caciques, are passerine birds in the New World blackbird family.
All of the group are in the genus Cacicus, except the aberrant Yellow-billed Cacique (Amblycercus holosericeus), which constitutes a monotypic genus. Judging from mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence (Price & Lanyon 2002), the aberrant oropendolas Band-tailed Oropendola (Ocyalus latirostris) and Casqued Oropendola, Psarocolius oseryi (Ocyalus oseryi?) seem to be closer to the caciques
Distribution / Range
Members of the family are resident breeders in tropical South America and north to Mexico.
The caciques are birds associated with open woodland or denser forests.
Most are gregarious and typically seen in small groups.
Breeding / Nesting
Most are colonial breeders, with several long, hanging, bag-shaped nests in a tree, each suspended from the end of a branch
Some species choose a tree that also contains an active wasp nest as a deterrent to predators (e.g. toucans), and females compete for the best sites near the protection of the wasp nest.
The eggs are incubated by the female alone.
Description
These are slim birds with long tails and a predominantly black plumage. The relatively long pointed bill is pale greenish, yellowish or bluish, depending on species, and most caciques have blue eyes (at least when adult). The female is typically smaller than the male.
Two species have the black plumage enlivened by a red rump, five have a yellow rump and in some cases yellow on the shoulders or crissum. The two remaining species are all black with no bright colour patches. A single species, the Yellow-winged Cacique, has extensive yellow to the tail, but otherwise all caciques have largely black tails (something that separates from the larger oropendolas).
Diet / Feeding
Caciques eat large insects and fruit.
Calls / Vocalizations
They are very vocal, producing a wide range of songs, sometimes including mimicry.
Status
Most remain fairly common and are able to withstand some habitat modifications, but two west Amazonian species, the Ecuadorian and Selva Caciques, are notably local and scarce.
Species
- Yellow-rumped Cacique, Cacicus cela
- Red-rumped Cacique, Cacicus haemorrhous
- Scarlet-rumped Cacique, Cacicus microrhynchus
- 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
- Northern Mountain Cacique, Cacicus (chrysonotus) leucoramphus
- Ecuadorian Cacique, Cacicus sclateri
- Solitary Black Cacique or Solitary Cacique, Cacicus solitarius
- Yellow-winged Cacique, Cacicus melanicterus
References
- ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton & Eckelberry, Don R. (1991): A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2
- Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Jaramillo, Alvaro & Burke, Peter (1999): New World Blackbirds. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-4333-1
- Price, J. Jordan & Lanyon, Scott M. (2002): A robust phylogeny of the oropendolas: Polyphyly revealed by mitochondrial sequence data. Auk 119(2): 335–348. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2002)119[0335:ARPOTO]2.0.CO;2 PDF fulltext
- Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org
Photo, Video and/or Article contributions are welcome! Please click here for info
The Avianweb strives to maintain accurate and up-to-date information; however, mistakes do happen. If you would like to correct or update any of the information, please send us an e-mail. THANK YOU!
