- Cinclocerthia ruficauda
Identification
23-25.5cm
- Dark olive brown upperparts
- Grey-brown underparts
- Black-brown crown
- Rufous rump
- Orange-brown belly
- Light yellow iris
- Long, slender, decurved black bill
- Brown legs
Juvenile: spotted breasts.
Distribution
Endemic to the islands of Saba, Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Vincent & Grenada in the Lesser Antilles.
Does not occur in St. Lucia and Martinique contrary to the claims in some books. Several recent reports indicate presence on Antigua.
Taxonomy
Hunt et al. 2001 present results that indicate that the Brown Tremblers from Guadeloupe/Montserrat (and probably from islands north of there) and the ones from Dominica/St. Vincent probably represent two different species, both separate from the already widely accepted Gray Trembler.
Subspecies[1]
Four subspecies are recognized:
- C. r. pavida:
- Lesser Antilles (Montserrat and adjacent north-western Leeward Islands)
- C. r. tremula:
- Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles)
- C. r. ruficauda:
- Dominica (Lesser Antilles)
- C. r. tenebrosa:
- St. Vincent (Lesser Antilles)
Habitat
Main habitat is wet forest, sometimes found in second growth, edges, and drier habitat.
Behaviour
Famous for its trembling, which looks similar to the behavior young birds of some other species (e.g. House Sparrow) make when they beg for food or which females make at initiation of mating. However, the Brown Trembler trembles a lot more and in other situations as well.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Trembler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Trembler
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
