Scarlet-rumped cacique
| Scarlet-rumped cacique | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In Panama | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Icteridae |
| Genus: | Cacicus |
| Species: | C. uropygialis |
| Binomial name | |
| Cacicus uropygialis (Lafresnaye, 1843) | |
 | |
| Audio | |
| Song | |
The scarlet-rumped cacique (Cacicus uropygialis) is a passerine bird species in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. This species has sometimes been split into two species: the scarlet-rumped cacique (Cacicus microrhynchus) and the subtropical cacique (Cacicus uropygialis).
Taxonomy
[edit]The scarlet-rumped cacique was formally described in 1843 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye based on a specimen collected in Colombia. He coined the binomial name Cassicus uropygialis where the specific epithet is from Medieval Latin uropygium meaning "rump".[2][3] The scarlet-rumped cacique is now one of ten species placed in the genus Cacicus that was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède.[4]
Three subspecies are recognised:[4]
- Cacicus uropygialis microrhynchus (Sclater, PL & Salvin, O, 1865) – far northeastern Honduras to eastern Panama (except Darién Province)
- Cacicus uropygialis pacificus Chapman, FM, 1915 – eastern Panama (Darién Province) to western Colombia and western Ecuador (El Oro)
- Cacicus uropygialis uropygialis Lafresnaye, 1843 – Andes of Colombia to northwestern Venezuela, eastern Ecuador, and southeastern Peru
The taxa C. u. pacificus and C. u. microrhynchus are sometimes treated as a separate species with the English name, the scarlet-rumped cacique. The nominate C. u. uropygialis is then known as the subtropical cacique.[5][6]
Description
[edit]The scarlet-rumped cacique is sexually dimorphic like many Icteridae, though it mainly concerns size in this species. Males are 23 cm (9 in) long and weigh 68 g (2.4 oz), while the female is 20 cm (8 in) long and weighs 53 g (1.9 oz); This cacique is a slim long-winged bird, with a relatively short tail, blue eyes, and a pale yellow pointed bill. It has mainly black plumage, apart from a scarlet patch on the lower back and upper rump. The female is smaller and a duller black than the male, and the juvenile bird has a brownish tone to the plumage and a brownish-orange rump.
The song of these birds is a pleasant wheee-whee-whee-whee-wheet, but the Pacific cacique has a descending melancholy wheeo-wheeo-wheeo-wheeo, while C. m. microrynchus in the narrowest sense has a burry pleeo; C. m. pacificus has a sweeter keeo or a shree.[7]
Behaviour
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Unlike some other caciques they are not usually colonial breeders; like them they have a bag-shaped nest. It is built about 3.5–30 m (11–98 ft) above ground, in a tree which usually also contains an active wasp nest. The bird's nest is 36–64 cm (14–25 in) long, widens at the base, and is suspended from the end of a branch. The normal clutch is two dark-blotched white eggs. The male will assist in feeding the young, but does not incubate.
References
[edit]- ↑ BirdLife International (2020). "Cacicus uropygialis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020 e.T22733589A138356612. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22733589A138356612.en.
- ↑ de Lafresnaye, Frédéric (1843). "Oiseaux nouveaux de Colombie". Revue Zoologique (in French). 5: 290–292 [290].
- ↑ Jobling, James A. "uropygialis". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
- 1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 2 May 2026.
- ↑ Ridgely, Robert S.; Tudor, Guy (2009). Birds of South America: Passerines. Helm Field Guides. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 674–675. ISBN 978-1-408-11342-4.
- ↑ Fraga, R.M. (2011). "Family Icteridae (New World Blackbirds)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 16: Tanagers to New World Blackbirds. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 684-807 [748-749]. ISBN 978-84-96553-78-1.
- ↑ Jaramillo & Burke (1999)