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Blue-black grassquit

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(Redirected from Volatinia)

Blue-black grassquit
Male at Manduri, São Paulo State, Brazil
Female at Manduri, São Paulo State, Brazil
Recorded at Arthur Nogueira (São Paulo State, Brazil) by Eurico Zimbres
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Volatinia
Reichenbach, 1850
Species:
V. jacarina
Binomial name
Volatinia jacarina
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms

Tanagra jacarina Linnaeus, 1766

The blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) is a small Neotropical bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country, every mainland South American country, in Trinidad and Tobago, and in Grenada.[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

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The blue-black grassquit was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tanagra jacarina.[3] Linnaeus based his description on the "Jacarni" that was described in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae.[4][5] The type locality is eastern Brazil.[5] The specific epithet jacarina is derived from the Tupi language and was used for a type of finch.[6] The blue-black grassquit is now the only species in the genus Volatinia that was introduced in 1850 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.[7][2] The genus name is a diminutive of the Latin volatus meaning "flying".[8]

Within the tanager family Thraupidae the blue-black grassquit is in the subfamily Tachyphoninae and is a member of a clade that contains the genera Conothraupis and Creurgops.[9][10] It was formerly placed with the buntings in the subfamily Emberizinae rather than with the tanagers in Thraupinae within an expanded family Emberizidae.[5][9]

The blue-black grassquit has these three subspecies:[2]

Description

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The blue-black grassquit is 8.7 to 10.9 cm (3.4 to 4.3 in) long and weighs 8 to 12 g (0.28 to 0.42 oz). It has a longish conical bill. The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies V. j. jacarina are mostly black with dark blue iridescence. Their flight feathers and tail are flat black. Their axillaries, underwing coverts, and the bases of the remiges' underside have a white patch that usually is visible only in flight. Adult females have a warm brown head and upperparts with faint darker streaks on the crown, mantle, and back. Their wings are brown with paler tips on some coverts that show as two faint wing bars and buffy edges on the tertials. Their tail is brown with buff tips on the outer feathers that quickly wear away. Their throat and underparts are warm buff with sometimes a cinnamon wash on the breast. Their breast has a band of darker streaks which continue along the flanks. Juveniles are similar to adult females but with darker wings and tail and more streaking on the underparts. Subspecies V. j. splendens has less white on the axillaries than the nominate. V. j. peruviensis has brownish flight feathers and more white on the axillaries than the nominate. Both sexes of all subspecies have a brown iris, a blackish maxilla, a pale gray to horn-colored mandible, and legs that can be any of several shades of gray.[11]

Distribution and habitat

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Subspecies V. j. splendens of the blue-black grassquit has by far the largest range of the three. It is found in Mexico on the west from southern Sonora south and in the east from southern Tamaulipas; the two ranges merge across southern Mexico at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and then separate again leaving a gap in central Chiapas. The range continues on the east to include the Yucatán Peninsula and south through eastern Guatemala and Belize and on the west through western Guatemala. It continues south through the whole of Honduras and El Salvador, all but far eastern Nicaragua, Costa Rica except for the Central Highlands, and all of Panama.[11][12][13] Its range continues in South America through all of Colombia, south through eastern Ecuador and most of the length of eastern Peru, and east across northern and southern Venezuela (except the Andes and much of Bolívar) and across the Guianas and northern Amazonian Brazil. It also inhabits Trinidad, Tobago, and Grenada.[11][14] It has also appeared as a vagrant in Arizona and on Bonaire.[15][16]

Subspecies V. j. peruviensis is found on the western Andean slope through Ecuador and Peru into northwestern Chile. The nominate V. j. jacarina is found in Brazil south of a line from Mato Grosso to Maranhão south through the rest of the country and into southeastern Peru, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Uruguay, and northern Argentina south to Mendoza, Córdoba, and northern Buenos Aires provinces.[11][17]

The blue-black grassquit's habitat is described as "Second-growth Scrub, Low Seasonally Wet Grassland, Arid Lowland Scrub, Pastures/Agricultural lands, Riparian Thickets" [capitals in original], mostly in the tropical zone and from sea level to 1,100 m (3,600 ft).[18] A similar list is "[s]hrubby weedy fields and open thickets, field edges, grassy fields and roadsides".[11] Individual field guides to the birds of many of the countries mirror these habitat types. However, sources differ on the species' maximum elevation. Birds of the World says it is 2,600 m (8,500 ft) and "perhaps even higher in El Salvador".[11] It is stated as 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in northern Central America, which includes El Salvador.[12] It is 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in Costa Rica, 2,200 m (7,200 ft) in Colombia, 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in Venezuela, mostly 1,000 m (3,300 ft) "but a few to 2,500 m (8,200 ft)" in Ecuador, 2,400 m (7,900 ft) in Peru, and 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in Brazil.[13][19][14][20][21][17]

Behavior

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Movement

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The blue-black grassquit is believed to be a sedentary year-round resident but some elevational movements are suspected.[11][18]

Feeding

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The blue-black grassquit feeds primarily on seeds; those of Paspalum and Panicum grasses are favored. It also eats small amounts of berries, insects, and Cecropia protein corpuscles. It forages mostly on the ground but also takes seeds directly from the grasses. It forages in pairs during the breeding season and outside it usually in flocks that often include other seed-eating birds.[11][20]

Breeding

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The blue-black grassquit's breeding season varies geographically but in general is within the span of April to October.[11] It is socially monogamous, but extra-pair fertilizations, intraspecific parasitism, and quasi-parasitism are common.[22][23] During the breeding season, males defend small territories, about 13.0–72.5 m2 (140–780 sq ft); dominant males are normally lighter.[24] The male has a jumping display, often performed for long periods, which gives rise to the local name "johnny jump-up". This is accompanied by a persistent wheezing jweeee call,[25] jumping several times in a minute.[26] The extravagant display also has a cost of calling attention of the predator, thus displaying increased nest predation.[27] Predation is the main cause of breeding failure,[28] and predator vocalizations can cause an immune-related reaction to this species.[29] Nests are small cups of rootlets (diameter about 7.5 cm) found in herbaceous vegetation 10–50 cm (4–20 in) high,[30] clustered at a landscape,[31] and placed preferably at high complex habitat spots.[32] Nests are built by both sexes.[28][33] The clutch is usually three eggs though clutches of two are known; the eggs are bluish white with darker spots. The incubation period is not known. Fledging occurs about nine days after hatch and both parents provision nestlings.[11]

Display

Vocalization

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One description of the blue-black grassquit's song is a "simple, 2-noted zeé-dji, repeated constantly".[17] Another author says that breeding males "tirelessly give an explosive buzzy dzeee-u" during the display.[20] A third writes the song as "a dry, sizzling tsi-SZZZEW".[21]

Status

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The IUCN has assessed the blue-black grassquit as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range; its estimated population of at least 50 million mature individuals is believed to be increasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] It is considered common in northern Central America, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, and very common in Venezuela.[12][13][19][20][14] It is "particularly common" in coastal Peru and its Marañón River valley and "less common" in Amazonia.[21] In Brazil it is "frequent to uncommon" in the central and western Amazon Basin and in the far north near the Guianas and "common to frequent" in the rest of the country.[17]

References

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  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2021). "Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021 e.T22723396A167752553. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22723396A167752553.en. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (April 2026). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List. v 15.2. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae: per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 314.
  4. ↑ Marcgrave, Georg (1648). Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (in Latin). Vol. Liber Quintus: Qui agit de Avibus. Lugdun and Batavorum (London and Leiden): Franciscum Hackium and Elzevirium. p. 210.
  5. 1 2 3 Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 132.
  6. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. ↑ Reichenbach, Ludwig (1849). Avium Systema Naturale (in German). Vol. Abt. 2 Bd. 1. Dresden and Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister. Plate LXXIX.
  8. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 404. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  9. 1 2 Burns, K.J.; Shultz, A.J.; Title, P.O.; Mason, N.A.; Barker, F.K.; Klicka, J.; Lanyon, S.M.; Lovette, I.J. (2014). "Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 75: 41–77. Bibcode:2014MolPE..75...41B. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006. PMID 24583021.
  10. ↑ Burns, K.J.; Unitt, P.; Mason, N.A. (2016). "A genus-level classification of the family Thraupidae (Class Aves: Order Passeriformes)". Zootaxa. 4088 (3): 329–354. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4088.3.2. PMID 27394344.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rising, J. D. (2020). Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blbgra1.01 retrieved September 3, 2026
  12. 1 2 3 Fagan, Jesse; Komar, Oliver (2016). Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America. Peterson Field Guides. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 368–369. ISBN 978-0-544-37326-6.
  13. 1 2 3 Garrigues, Richard; Dean, Robert (2007). The Birds of Costa Rica. Ithaca: Zona Tropical/Comstock/Cornell University Press. pp. 296–297. ISBN 978-0-8014-7373-9.
  14. 1 2 3 Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela (second ed.). Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 794.
  15. ↑ Rosenberg, Gary H.; Core, Andrew (2024). "Arizona Bird Committee Report, 2021-2023 Records". Western Birds. 52 (3). Retrieved September 3, 2026.
  16. ↑ Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 25 July 2026. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved 25 July 2026
  17. 1 2 3 4 van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 396–397. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7.
  18. 1 2 Check-list of North American Birds (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. p. 591.
  19. 1 2 McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-9827615-0-2.
  20. 1 2 3 4 Ridgely, Robert S.; Greenfield, Paul J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide. Vol. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 673–674. ISBN 978-0-8014-8721-7.
  21. 1 2 3 Schulenberg, T.S.; Stotz, D.F.; Lane, D.F.; O'Neill, J.P.; Parker, T.A. III (2010). Birds of Peru. Princeton Field Guides (revised and updated ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-0691130231.
  22. ↑ Carvalho, Carlos B. V.; Macedo, Regina H.; Graves, Jefferson A. (2006-08-01). "Breeding strategies of a socially monogamous neotropical passerine: extra-pair fertilizations, behavior, and morphology". The Condor. 108 (3): 579–590. doi:10.1650/0010-5422(2006)108[579:BSOASM]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0010-5422. S2CID 86341179.
  23. ↑ Manica, Lilian T.; Graves, Jeff A.; Podos, Jeffrey; Macedo, Regina H. (2016-12-01). "Multimodal flight display of a neotropical songbird predicts social pairing but not extrapair mating success". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 70 (12): 2039–2052. Bibcode:2016BEcoS..70.2039M. doi:10.1007/s00265-016-2208-x. ISSN 0340-5443. S2CID 40033522.
  24. ↑ Santos, Eduardo S.A.; Maia, Rafael; Macedo, Regina H. (2009). "Condition-dependent resource value affects male–male competition in the blue–black grassquit". Behavioral Ecology. 20 (3): 553–559. doi:10.1093/beheco/arp031. ISSN 1465-7279.
  25. ↑ Manica, Lilian T.; Macedo, Regina H.; Graves, Jeff A.; Podos, Jeffrey (2016-09-20). "Vigor and skill in the acrobatic mating displays of a Neotropical songbird". Behavioral Ecology. 28 (1): 164–173. doi:10.1093/beheco/arw143. ISSN 1045-2249.
  26. ↑ Carlos Biagolini-Jr. (2018-04-25), Tiziu - Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2018-05-14
  27. ↑ Dias, Raphael I.; Castilho, Leonardo; Macedo, Regina H. (2010-11-01). "Experimental Evidence that Sexual Displays are Costly for Nest Survival". Ethology. 116 (11): 1011–1019. Bibcode:2010Ethol.116.1011D. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01817.x. ISSN 1439-0310.
  28. 1 2 Carvalho, C. B. V.; Macedo, R. H. F.; Graves, J. A. (May 2007). "Reproduction of Blue-black Grassquits in central Brazil". Brazilian Journal of Biology. 67 (2): 275–281. doi:10.1590/S1519-69842007000200012. ISSN 1519-6984. PMID 17876437.
  29. ↑ Caetano, João V.O.; Maia, Maya R.; Manica, Lilian T.; MacEdo, Regina H. (2014-11-01). "Immune-related effects from predation risk in Neotropical blue-black grassquits (Volatinia jacarina)". Behavioural Processes. 109: 58–63. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2014.07.003. ISSN 0376-6357. PMID 25038547. S2CID 5412283.
  30. ↑ Almeida, Juliana B.; Macedo, Regina H. (2001-04-01). "Lek-like mating system of the monogamous blue-black grassquit". The Auk. 118 (2): 404–411. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118[0404:LLMSOT]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0004-8038. S2CID 59361668.
  31. ↑ Dias, Raphael Igor; Kuhlmann, Marcelo; Lourenço, Luciane R.; Macedo, Regina H. (2009-11-01). "Territorial Clustering in the Blue-Black Grassquit: Reproductive Strategy in Response to Habitat and Food Requirements?". The Condor. 111 (4): 706–714. doi:10.1525/cond.2009.090142. ISSN 0010-5422. S2CID 84877861.
  32. ↑ Aguilar, Thais M.; Dias, Raphael I.; Oliveira, Ailton C.; Macedo, Regina H. (2008-03-01). "Nest-site selection by Blue-black Grassquits in a Neotropical savanna: do choices influence nest success?". Journal of Field Ornithology. 79 (1): 24–31. doi:10.1111/j.1557-9263.2008.00142.x. ISSN 1557-9263.
  33. ↑ Carlos Biagolini-Jr. (2018-04-25), Tiziu - Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2018-05-14
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