Geographic Variation
Individual variation is substantial (Sclater 1870, Baird et al. 1874, Cory 1891, 1892, Scott 1892, Todd and Worthington 1911, Wetmore 1968, Buden 1987) and exists to such an extent that geographic variation is difficult or impossible to discern (Banks and Hole 1991). Nevertheless, a comparative examination (JMH) of adult plumage color (n = 124) and wing, tail, bill, and tarsus lengths (n = 320) on museum specimens lacking signs of molt suggests that variation may fall into three broad groups (Appendix 1). Birds from the windward Lesser Antilles (Barbuda, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent) tend to have the throat buff and the belly dark cinnamon and to average larger in all measurements relative to birds from Florida, The Bahamas, and the Cayman Is., which have the throat more grayish and belly more buffy. Birds on I. Providencia and in Central America are similar in size and color to the latter group. Although these two groups might be diagnosably distinct, a third broad group is intermediate in both color and size, and individuals in that group vary considerably. Plumage is particularly variable on Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Is., with individuals approaching color extremes of both the Windward group to the south and east and the Florida group to the north and west.
Subspecies
No subspecies (Banks and Hole 1991, Payne 1997), despite some thirteen being listed elsewhere (Ridgway 1916, Peters 1940). In the only attempt at a comprehensive assessment of subspecific taxonomy, which included examination of >200 specimens and all available literature, Banks and Hole (1991) reported that wing chord overlapped so broadly that size could not be used to diagnose populations. They further reported great individual variation in color and noted that in many instances individuals of a one subspecies were identical to individuals of another subspecies. Their conclusions jibe with earlier observations of Wetmore (1927), who noted, with respect to birds from Jamaica and Puerto Rico, that "The two forms are so closely allied that they must be examined in series as individuals are distinguished with difficulty or not at all." Another clue to various subspecies not being diagnosably distinct is that no fewer than four subspecies have been attributed to Florida (Scott 1889, Howell 1932, Graves et al. 1982) even though insular Florida is the type locality of C. m. maynardi and no other subspecies is expected to occur there.
With treatment as monotypic, the name Coccyzus minor (Gmelin, 1788) includes a long list of junior synonyms: C. seniculus (Latham, 1790); C. helviventris Cabanis, 1848; C. m. nesiotes (Cabanis and Heine, 1863); C. m. maynardi Ridgway, 1887; C. m. dominicae Shelley, 1891; C. m. abbotti Stone, 1899; C. m. vincentis Clark, 1905; C. m. grenadensis Bangs, 1907; C. m. palloris Ridgway, 1915; C. m. rileyi Ridgway, 1915; C. m. caymanensis Cory, 1919; C. m. teres Peters, 1927; C. m. continentalis van Rossem, 1934; and C. m. cozumelae van Rossem, 1934, with C. dominicus Bonaparte, 1850 (and variants thereof), also, perhaps, referring to this species (see Ridgway 1916:29).
