Black-faced Grosbeak
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| Caryothraustes poliogaster (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1847) |
The Black-faced Grosbeak, Caryothraustes poliogaster, is a large seed-eating bird in the cardinal family, which is a resident breeding species from southeastern Mexico to eastern Panama.
This species breeds in the Caribbean lowlands and foothills from sea level to about 1000m altitude, and is found in the canopy and middle levels of dense wet forests, tall second growth, and semi-open habitats such as woodland edge and clearings. The nest is a bowl constructed from bromeliad leaves and other epiphytes 3-6 m high in a small tree or palm. The female lays three brown-spotted gey-white eggs between April and June.
The adult Black-faced Grosbeak is 16.5 cm long, weighs 36 g, and has a heavy, mainly black, bill. It has a black face, yellow head, neck and breast, and olive back, wings and tail. The rump and belly are grey. Immatures are duller and have duskier face markings.
The Black-faced Grosbeak forages in shrubs or trees for beetles, caterpillars and other insects, and also eats fruit, seeds and nectar taken from flowers or epiphyte bracts. It forms noisy flocks of up to 20 birds, and is often in mixed-species feeding flocks with tanagers, warblers and honeycreepers.
The vocalisations include sharp chip or tweet calls, buzzes and whistles, and the song is a musical whistled cher chi weet, cher chir weet, cher chi chuweet.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Caryothraustes poliogaster. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
