From Opus

Icterus pectoralis

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

[edit] Identification

Length 21-24cm.
Adult - 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

Two subspecies are recognized:^[1]

• I.p. pectoralis - Pacific slope from southern Mexico to northern Nicaragua
• I.p. espinachi - Pacific coast from southern Nicaragua to northwestern Costa Rica

[edit] Habitat

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

[edit] Behaviour

• Diet: Forages in shrubs and trees for insects, fruits, berries and nectar.
• Breeding: 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] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.

• List of references

[edit] External Links