Sugar bird

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Sugar bird
Sugar bird (Coereba flaveola)

Sugar bird ( Coereba flaveola )

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Tangaren (Thraupidae)
Subfamily : Coerebinae
Genre : Coereba
Type : Sugar bird
Scientific name of the  genus
Coereba
Vieillot , 1809
Scientific name of the  species
Coereba flaveola
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The sugar bird ( Coereba flaveola ) or bananaquit is a Sperling bird (Passeriformes).

distribution

The birds live in tropical South and Central America , from northern Argentina to southern Mexico and on the islands of the Caribbean . Some stray animals also came to Florida . They live in damp forests, parks and gardens.

features

Sugar birds reach a length of 10-12 centimeters. The subspecies Coereba flaveola bananivora, which occurs in the Dominican Republic, is the smallest at 10 centimeters. On the top they are dark gray with a black cap on their head. The chest, belly and rump are yellow. There is a white line above the eye. The beak is slender and curved. The tongue is split to absorb nectar, tubular in front and covered with horn scales. The sexes look the same. Its wide distribution has led to the formation of various subspecies. Coereba flaveola caboti from Cozumel off the coast of Yucatán has a white throat. Coereba flaveola atrata lives on Grenada and St. Vincent and are mostly black. The subspecies Coereba flaveola luteola , which has a gray throat, lives on the Caribbean island of Tobago . Coereba flaveola bahamensis occurs in the Bahamas ( Grand Bahama and Little Abaco ) as well as on Grand Turk . This bird's cheek, chin, throat, and flanks are white.

nutrition

The birds feed on nectar , insects or suck the juice from berries. They cannot stand in the air like hummingbirds, but have to sit down to eat. They pierce hard-to-reach, tubular flowers with their beak from the side.

Reproduction

Eggs of the sugar bird

Sugar birds breed at least twice a year. Their nest is made of blades of grass and is spherical or oval with an entrance hole on the side. Two to three eggs are laid. The male takes part in the brood care. It also builds a sleeping nest for itself.

Subspecies

Monochrome hooked beak, panama cappit & sugar bird (ssp. C. f. Caboti ) painted by John Gerrard Keulemans
C. f. martinicana & C. f. bartholemica painted by Joseph Smit , 1886
Sugar bird of the subspecies C. f. luteola on Tobago

There are 41 known subspecies of the sugar bird. It is sorted alphabetically as follows:

  • Coereba flaveola alleni Lowe , 1912
  • Coereba flaveola aterrima ( Lesson , 1830)
  • Coereba flaveola atrata ( Lawrence , 1878)
  • Coereba flaveola bahamensis ( Reichenbach , 1853)
  • Coereba flaveola bananivora ( Gmelin , 1789)
  • Coereba flaveola barbadensis ( Baird , 1873)
  • Coereba flaveola bartholemica ( Sparrman , 1788)
  • Coereba flaveola bolivari Zimmer & WH Phelps , 1946
  • Coereba flaveola bonairensis Voous , 1955
  • Coereba flaveola caboti (Baird, 1873)
  • Coereba flaveola caucae Chapman , 1914
  • Coereba flaveola cerinoclunis Bangs , 1901
  • Coereba flaveola chloropyga ( Cabanis , 1850)
  • Coereba flaveola columbiana (Cabanis, 1866)
  • Coereba flaveola dispar room, 1942
  • Coereba flaveola ferryi Cory , 1909
  • Coereba flaveola flaveola (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Coereba flaveola frailensis Phelps & Phelps , 1946
  • Coereba flaveola gorgonae Thayer & Bangs, 1905
  • Coereba flaveola guianensis (Cabanis, 1850)
  • Coereba flaveola intermedia ( Salvadori & Festa , 1899)
  • Coereba flaveola laurae Lowe, 1908
  • Coereba flaveola lowii Cory, 1909
  • Coereba flaveola luteola (Cabanis, 1850)
  • Coereba flaveola magnirostris ( Taczanowski , 1880)
  • Coereba flaveola martinicana (Reichenbach, 1853)
  • Coereba flaveola melanornis Phelps & WH Phelps Jr, 1954
  • Coereba flaveola mexicana ( PL Sclater , 1857)
  • Coereba flaveola minima ( Bonaparte , 1854)
  • Coereba flaveola montana Lowe, 1912
  • Coereba flaveola nectarea Wetmore , 1929
  • Coereba flaveola newtoni (Baird, 1873)
  • Coereba flaveola oblita Griscom , 1923
  • Coereba flaveola obscura Cory, 1913
  • Coereba flaveola pacifica Lowe, 1912
  • Coereba flaveola portoricensis ( H. Bryant , 1866)
  • Coereba flaveola roraimae Chapman, 1929
  • Coereba flaveola sanctithomae ( Sundevall , 1870)
  • Coereba flaveola sharpei (Cory, 1886)
  • Coereba flaveola tricolor ( Ridgway , 1884)
  • Coereba flaveola uropygialis Berlepsch , 1892

literature

  • Hilty, S. & Christie, DA (2016). Bananaquit ( Coereba flaveola ). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, DA & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (Retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/61852 on February 21, 2016).

Web links

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