From Opus

Photo of male by Bjorn Svensson
location: Venezuela

Quiscalus lugubris

[edit] Identification

24-28 cm. Male is black with a metallic sheen that is either green, violet, or steel-blue. It has a tail that is V-shaped and whitish eyes. The female has grayish underside, darker brownish-gray upperside and a light supercilium at least on some islands, while she is darker and even can have some glossy black areas on other islands. Male is larger than female.

[edit] Distribution

Present in the Lesser Antilles from Anguilla and south - probably introduced on some of the northern islands including Antigua and Barbuda. Outside the Caribbean, also present on Trinidad, and Eastern Colombia through Northern Venezuela (including islands such as Isla Margarita etc), the Guianas, and North-Eastern Brazil.

[edit] Taxonomy

Clements Checklist mentions 8 subspecies. According to Raffaele¹, the 5 Caribbean subspecies have different song dialects, and there is some differences in female plumage as well. Prime suspect for a future split?

[edit] Habitat

Limited to open areas, including residential.

[edit] Behaviour

It breeds in colonies. A deep cup nest is built in a tree; 2-4 white eggs are laid and incubated for 12 days. The young fledge 14 days later.

The diet includes insects and invertebrates.

[edit] References

1. Raffaele et al. 1998. Birds of the West Indies. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0713649054

[edit] External Links