- New World catbird
Taxobox
name = New World catbirds
image_caption = Gray Catbird
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Mimidae
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Dumetella"
"Melanoptila"The New World catbirds are a group of passerine
bird s in the familyMimidae which also includesmockingbird s andthrasher s.These birds produce a wide variety of sounds including
cat -like barks. They are generally found in brushy habitats.The species are
*Gray Catbird ("Dumetella carolinensis"), a common bird inNorth America
*Black Catbird ("Melanoptila glabrirostris"), an uncommon bird inCentral America Among the Mimidae, these represent basal lineages probably closer to the Caribbean thrasher and trembler assemblage than to the mockingbirds and "
Toxostoma " thrashers (Hunt "et al." 2001, Barber "et al." 2004).Unrelated Catbirds
The New World catbirds are not to be confused with nor are related to the following four bird species of the family
Ptilonorhynchidae (bowerbirds). These also make cat-like sounds:
*White-eared Catbird , "Ailuroedus buccoides"
*Spotted Catbird , "Ailuroedus melanotis"
*Green Catbird , "Ailuroedus crassirostris"
*Tooth-billed Catbird , "Scenopooetes dentirostris"The
Abyssinian Catbird ("Parophasma galinieri") is another unrelated bird (anOld World babbler ) also named for its voice.References
* Barber, Brian R.; Martínez-Gómez, Juan E. & Peterson, A. Townsend (2004): Systematic position of the Socorro mockingbird "Mimodes graysoni". "J. Avian Biol." 35: 195-198. doi|10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03233.x (HTML abstract)
* Hunt, Jeffrey S.; Bermingham, Eldredge; & Ricklefs, Robert E. (2001): Molecular systematics and biogeography of Antillean thrashers, tremblers, and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae). "Auk" 118(1): 35–55. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118 [0035:MSABOA] 2.0.CO;2 [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200101/ai_n8930531 HTML fulltext without images]
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