Tawny-shouldered blackbird

Tawny-shouldered blackbird
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Agelaius
Species:
A. humeralis
Binomial name
Agelaius humeralis
(Vigors, 1827)
Range of A. humeralis

The tawny-shouldered blackbird (Agelaius humeralis) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is found in Cuba and Haiti and possibly the Dominican Republic.[1][2] It is also a vagrant to the Florida Keys in the United States.[3]

Taxonomy and systematics

The tawny-shouldered blackbird was formally described in 1827 with the binomial Leistes humeralis.[4] It and the yellow-shouldered blackbird (A. xanthomus) are sister species and form a superspecies.[3] It is known in Cuba as "mayito" and in Haiti as "ti kawouj".[5]

The tawny-shouldered blackbird has two subspecies, the nominate A. h. humeralis (Vigors, 1827) and A. h. scopulus (Garrido, 1970).[2]

Description

The tawny-shouldered blackbird is 19 to 22 cm (7.5 to 8.7 in) long. Males weigh an average of 38.3 g (1.4 oz) and females an average of 34.5 g (1.2 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies are mostly black with a slight bluish gloss. Their lesser and median upperwing coverts are tawny and the median coverts have yellowish cream tips. Adult females are duskier than males and lack the bluish gloss. They have a smaller amount of tawny on the coverts and the median coverts are partly black. Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles are dusky black with minimal or no tawny on their wing. Subspecies A. h. scopulus is smaller than the nominate with a smaller tawny patch and a thinner bill.[5][6]

Distribution and habitat

According to most sources the nominate subspecies of the tawny-shouldered blackbird is found throughout mainland Cuba, on some small Cuban islands, and in Haiti.[2][3][6][7][8] The IUCN's text places it also in the Dominican Republic but does not include that country in its map.[1] The sources place subspecies A. h. scopulus on Cayo Cantiles, a small Cuban island east of Isla de la Juventud ("Isle of Pines").[2][7][8] The species has also been recorded in the Florida Keys and at least once in mainland Florida.[3]

The tawny-shouldered blackbird inhabits a variety of open habitats including woodlands and their edges, rice fields and other agricultural areas, swampy areas, and scrublands.[3][5][6] In elevation it ranges from sea level to 900 m (3,000 ft).[3][5]

Behavior

Movement

The tawny-shouldered blackbird is not migratory though some small local movements have been observed.[5]

Feeding

The tawny-shouldered blackbird feeds mostly on insects, other arthropods, small lizards, and seeds, and also includes fruit and nectar in its diet. It forages in trees, lower vegetation, and on the ground.[5] It forms large flocks and that often include other icterids.[5][6]

Breeding

The tawny-shouldered blackbird breeds between April and August in Cuba; its season in Haiti has not been defined. It usually breeds solitarily but sometimes in small loose colonies, and a large tree may have several nests. The nest is a cup built by the female from dry grass, moss, twigs, hair, and feathers. It is usually placed in a tree or palm and often near water. Nests have also been found in low marsh vegetation and once on an outdoor lamp. The clutch is three to four eggs that are bluish to greenish with brown spots. Females incubate the clutch and both parents provision nestlings. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known. The shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) is believed to parasitize its nests.[5]

Vocalization

Both sexes of the tawny-shouldered blackbird sing, "1–2 protracted buzzing notes, sometimes introduced with [a] shorter buzz at higher pitch", and pairs sometimes duet. Their calls include "chuk or cheek" and "nasal and metallic notes".[5]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the tawny-shouldered blackbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range;l its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] It is considered common in Cuba and "uncommon and local" in Haiti.[6] It "[a]dapts well to man-modified environments".[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 BirdLife International (2018). "Tawny-shouldered Blackbird Agelaius humeralis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018 e.T22724206A132028704. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22724206A132028704.en. Retrieved 28 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (April 2026). "Oropendolas, orioles, blackbirds". IOC World Bird List. v 15.2. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Check-list of North American Birds (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. p. 641.
  4. ↑ Vigors, N. A. (1827). "Art. XLVI. Sketches in Ornithology, &c. &c. On some species of birds from Cuba". The Zoological Journal (in Latin). III. W. Phillips: 442. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fraga, R. (2020). Tawny-shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius humeralis), 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.tasbla.01 retrieved June 28, 2026
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Raffaele, Herbert; Wiley, James; Garrido, Orlando; Keith, Allan; Rafaele, Janice (2003). Birds of the West Indies. Princeton Field Guides. Princeton University Press. pp. Plate 86. ISBN 0-691-11319-X.
  7. 1 2 Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2025. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2025. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 3, 2025
  8. 1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". Retrieved June 11, 2025.
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agelaius humeralis.
Wikispecies logo
Wikispecies has information related to Agelaius humeralis.

See also

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.