From Opus

Icterus pectoralis

Photo by blubird
Photo taken: La Ensenade, Gulfo de Nicoya, Costa Rica.

[edit] Identification

21-24cm. Bright orange, black back, mask, throat, and spots on breast; wings are black with large white patches. Tail is black. Long, pointed black bill with silvery base to lower mandible, long tail, dark eyes, blue grey legs. Sexes similar. Immature - similar to adult, but paler yellow-orange, with olive-green back and tail, dusky wings, and little or no black on face, throat, or breast.

[edit] Distribution

Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and southern Florida.

[edit] Taxonomy

Polytypic. Consists of two subspecies.

[edit] Habitat

Open woodlands, dry scrub, forest edges, and around ranches and villages, parks, suburbs, and gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

It forages in shrubs and trees; the diet includes insects, fruits, berries and nectar.

It builds a long, hanging pouch woven of fibres and thin roots, suspended in the fork of a tree branch. The eggs are white with black and purple scrawls.

[edit] External Links