Pearl-eye mockingbird

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Pearl-eye mockingbird
Pearl-eye mockingbird (Margarops fuscatus) singing? / I

Pearl-Eye Mockingbird ( Margarops fuscatus ) singing ? / i
Audio file / audio sample

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Muscicapoidea
Family : Mockingbirds (Mimidae)
Genre : Margarops
Type : Pearl-eye mockingbird
Scientific name of the  genus
Margarops
Sclater, PL , 1859
Scientific name of the  species
Margarops fuscatus
( Vieillot , 1808)

The pearl-eye mockingbird ( Margarops fuscatus ) is a species of bird in the mockingbird family (Mimidae). The species is widespread on many islands in the Caribbean , where it inhabits different habitats, some of which are heavily influenced by humans. The pearl-eye mockingbird was first described in 1808 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot . In addition to the nominate form , several other subspecies have been described. It is the only species in the genus Margarops .

Description and behavior

Adult pearl-eye mockingbirds reach an average size of around 20 to 30 cm and weigh between 90 and 150 g. This makes it the largest member of the mockingbird family. The coloring of the plumage of the birds varies depending on the subspecies, but generally shows different shades of brown on the upper side and the flight feathers, while the chest and throat are predominantly dark white. The iris is strikingly pearly white in adult animals, which was taken up in the name "pearl-eye" mocking thrush. There is no pronounced sexual dimorphism , several characteristics must be used in combination to differentiate between the sexes.

The pearl-eye mockingbird is described as territorial and "combative". Especially during the breeding season, both male and female animals show a high level of aggressiveness towards potential enemies, which can also be representatives of their own species. The area around the nest is guarded with less intensity all year round, even outside the breeding season. The respective opponent is attacked both with the beak and with the claws, in some cases fights are fought up to death.

The pearl-eye mockingbird is not picky about its habitat. Both dense forests and more open landscapes and gardens are populated. With regard to their diet, the birds are just as opportunistic; depending on the food available, fruits, insects, eggs or nestlings of other bird species are accepted. In human-populated habitats, the pearl-eye mockingbird also steals leftover food or fruit from gardens. Especially in the northern Lesser Antilles , small lizards of the genus Anolis are also hunted, for which the pearl-eyed mockingbird is one of the most important predators.

Reproduction

Egg of the pearl-eye mockingbird

The pearl-eye mockingbird forms pairs that usually stay together for an entire breeding season. During courtship , the males perform courtship dances to win over the females. The nest consists of small branches and twigs and is usually used several times.

The breeding season of the pearl-eyed mockingbird is extremely long and usually extends over a period of around seven months, with the peak of the egg-laying around the months of April and May. Successful pairs can breed several times during the same season, up to four clutches are not uncommon, although cases of up to six clutches are known if earlier attempts at breeding have failed. As a rule, two to four greenish-blue colored eggs are laid per clutch. The average length of the eggs is about 32.4 mm, with a width of about 22.5 mm. The average weight is about 8.8 g. Studies have shown that older couples tend to breed earlier than younger specimens. As a result of strong hurricanes or other significant disturbances, the breeding season can sometimes be shifted considerably and in places extend over the whole year. In the period from 1979 to 2000, researchers observed a total of 3783 egg-laying, with 2907 of these eggs hatching young animals, which corresponds to about 77%. In 1547 the hatched young reached an age that allowed them to leave the nest. Other mockingbirds, owls and rats are considered the greatest threats to eggs and young animals.

Spread and endangerment

Pearl-eye mockingbirds also inhabit habitats that are intensively used by humans

The pearl-eye mockingbird colonizes a number of islands in the eastern Caribbean, the range extends from the Bahamas in the north over Puerto Rico , the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Virgin Islands to St. Lucia . Formerly existing populations in Jamaica , Barbados and Grenada are now considered extinct. The lack of the species on almost all larger Caribbean islands, such as Hispaniola or Jamaica, is remarkable . The only exception is Puerto Rico, where the pearl-eye mockingbird prefers habitats that have been modified by humans with few competing species. Due to this apparent preference for small island habitats, an expansion of the species to the American mainland is considered unlikely in the future. The IUCN currently classifies the pearl-eye mockingbird as not endangered (status "least concern"). The subspecies M. f. bonairensis , which occurs only on the island of Bonaire , has recently seen a decline in population due to competition from Trupiale , who immigrated from nearby Curaçao .

Systematics

The taxonomic classification of the pearl-eye mockingbird was initially unclear and has changed several times over the years. Vieillot first described the species in 1808 under the scientific name Turdus fuscatus and thus placed it among the real thrushes . In the following years, various researchers proposed the classification into various other genres before ( Colluricincla , mime , Cichlherminia , Cichlalopia ) until the British zoologist Philip Sclater in 1859 the genus Margarops described, in which he originally kinds Margarops fuscatus and Margarops densirostris presented . Today, however , the genus Margarops is regarded as monotypical , Margarops densirostris only received the status of a subspecies .

Currently, in addition to the nominate form Margarops fuscatus fuscatus, three other subspecies are considered valid, which differ primarily in terms of the color of the plumage and the geographical distribution:

  • M. f. fuscatus ( Vieillot , 1808); Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda ; light brown plumage
  • M. f. densirostris ( Vieillot , 1818); Montserrat , Guadeloupe , Martinique ; dark brown plumage
  • M. f. bonairensis Phelps & Phelps, Jr. , 1948; Bonaire; gray-brown plumage
  • M. f. Klinikowskii Garrido & Remsen , 1996; St. Lucia; red-brown plumage

literature

  • Herbert A. Raffaele, Cindy J. House: A Guide to the Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (Revised Edition) . Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 1989, ISBN 978-0-691-02424-0 , pp. 31, 151 .
  • Roland H. Wauer: A Birder's West Indies: An Island-by-Island Tour . University of Texas Press, Austin, TX 1996, ISBN 0-292-79098-8 , pp. 82 .

Web links

Commons : Pearl-Eye Mockingbird  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wayne J. Arendt: Pearly-eyed Thrasher Margarops fuscatus - Appearance. In: cornell.edu. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2017, accessed June 14, 2019 .
  2. ^ A b Wayne J. Arendt: Pearly-eyed Thrasher Margarops fuscatus - Behavior. In: cornell.edu. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2017, accessed June 14, 2019 .
  3. ^ Roland H. Wauer: A Birder's West Indies: An Island-by-Island Tour . University of Texas Press, Austin, TX 1996, ISBN 0-292-79098-8 , pp. 82 .
  4. ↑ St. John Fauna: Pearly-Eyed Thrasher. In: seestjohn.com. Retrieved June 25, 2019 .
  5. ^ Jonathan Roughgarden: Anolis Lizards of the Caribbean: Ecology, Evolution and Plate Tectonics . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-509605-3 , pp. 164 .
  6. ^ Wayne J. Arendt: Pearly-eyed Thrasher Margarops fuscatus - Breeding. In: Cornell.edu. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2017, accessed June 14, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, David A. Christie: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes . In: Handbook of the Birds of the World . tape 10 . Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2005, ISBN 84-87334-72-5 , pp. 481-482 .
  8. ^ Wayne J. Arendt: Pearly-eyed Thrasher Margarops fuscatus - Demography and Populations. In: cornell.edu. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2017, accessed June 14, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Margarops fuscatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018. In: iucnredlist.org. BirdLife International 2018, November 15, 2018, accessed June 12, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Pearly-eyed Thrasher Margarops fuscatus . In: bonairebirds.com. Birds of Bonaire, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  11. ^ Wayne J. Arendt: Pearly-eyed Thrasher Margarops fuscatus - Systematics. In: cornell.edu. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2017, accessed June 14, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Pearly-eyed Thrasher (bonairensis). In: bsc-eoc.org. Avibase, accessed June 18, 2019 .