From Opus

Cyanocompsa parellina

Photo by Peter R. Bono
Central Vallarta Road, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jan. 2009

[edit] Identification

14cm (5.5 ins)
Male - dark blue body, brighter blue supercilium, forecrown, malar region, rump and lesser wing coverts; very dark tail.
Female - warm brown, slightly paler below.

[edit] Similar Species

Blue-black Grosbeak is bigger, with a much bigger bill; Blue-black Grassquit is smaller, blacker and has a smaller, sharper bill; Indigo Bunting, which does winter in Mexico, is a much lighter, brighter blue.

[edit] Distribution

Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. A rare visitor to the coast and the Rio Grande Valley in extreme south Texas.

[edit] Taxonomy

There are 4 subspecies:¹

• C. p. beneplacita (Bangs, 1915)
• C. p. indigotica (Ridgway, 1887)
• C. p. lucida (Sutton & Burleigh, 1939)
• C. p. parellina (Bonaparte, 1850)

[edit] Habitat

Roadsides, brushy fields, undergrowth of riversides, thickets and scrubby woods.

[edit] Behaviour

Forages for seeds and insects on the ground and in the bushes and undergrowth.

Nest of grassy material, lined with finer fibers, built in a bush or low down in a small tree. Two white to light blue eggs are laid and incubated by the female, for 11-13 days.

Voice: Call is a metallic chink. Song is a varied, plaintive trilling of see-you, see-you, see yee-suee-se-se-see, starts with one to two notes, followed by a trill, then fades away.

[edit] References

1. ITIS

[edit] External Links