Cuban Solitaire - BirdForum Opus

Photo by wintibird
Cueva de los Portales, Pinar del Rio, Cuba, March 2016

Myadestes elisabeth

Identification

• Brown upperparts
• Pale grey underparts
• White eyering
• Narrow brown moustache
• Dark bill
• Yellow base to lower mandible

Similar species

Photo by Tony Coatsworth
El Palenque, north of Vinales, Cuba

Due to its behavior may be mistaken for a flycatcher species

Distribution

Endemic to Cuba.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• M: e. elisabeth:

  Locally in mountains of Cuba

• M: e. retrusus:

• Formerly Isle of Pines (Cuba). Extinct

Habitat

Semi-deciduous woods, pine forests near cliffs.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes seeds, fruit and insects, mainly found in canopy. It is prone to feed by sallying, reminding of a flycatcher

References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Raffaele et al. 1998. Birds of the West Indies. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0713649054
3. Arthur Grosset

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Cuban Solitaire. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cuban_Solitaire

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