Blue Mockingbird

Blue Mockingbird
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Mimidae
Genus:	Melanotis
Species:	M. caerulescens
Binomial name
Melanotis caerulescens (Swainson, 1827)

The Blue Mockingbird (Melanotis caerulescens) is a species of bird in the Mimidae family. It is endemic to Mexico, but has occurred as a vagrant in the southern United States. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, and heavily degraded former forest.

The Blue Mockingbird is uniformly blue on its back, tail, wings, head and underbelly. This color is a result of feather structure rather than pigment, and therefore can look gray in the shade. It has a black "mask" surrounding its reddish-brown eyes. It has a rather long, slightly graduated tail, and dark blue streaks over its breast. Its bill is long, thin and slightly curved, and its legs and feet are black.

Taxonomy

When he first described the Blue Mockingbird in 1827, William John Swainson assigned it to the mockingbird genus Orpheus, and when Orpheus became a junior synonym for the genus Mimus, the species was moved accordingly. Not all authorities agreed; several placed it in the thrush genus Turdus. However, when Charles Lucien Bonaparte moved it to its current genus Melanotis in 1850, most authorities quickly followed suit.^[2] There is disagreement as to whether it is monotypic^[3] or not.^[4]

Among taxonomists who believe the species is polytypic, two subspecies are generally recognized.

• M. c. caerulescens, the nominate subspecies, is found in the pine-oak zone of western Mexico, from southern Sonora south to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
• M. c. longirostris is found only on the Tres Marías Islands, off the coast of western Mexico.^[4]

The Blue Mockingbird has historically been considered conspecific with the closely related Blue-and-white Mockingbird.^[5] Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek roots melano-/μελανο- meaning "black" and ot-/ὠτ- meaning "ear",^[6] while its species name is derived from the Latin adjective caerǔlěus, meaning "blue".^[7]

Habitat and range

The Blue Mockingbird lives in a variety of woodlands: humid forest, riparian thickets, scrub, pine-oak forests and second growth. They are found at elevations ranging from lowlands to 2,450 m (8,040 ft).^[8]

Behavior

Breeding

The Blue Mockingbird builds a cup nest of twigs and rootlets.^[8]

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2008). Melanotis caerulescens. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 2009-04-21.
2. ^ United States National Museum (1907). Bulletin of the United States National Museum, Volume 50, part 4. Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office. pp. 209–212. 
3. ^ Monroe, Burt L; Sibley, Charles G (1997). A World Checklist of Birds. Yale University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0300070837. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Clements, James F. (2000). Birds of the World: A Checklist (5 ed.). Robertsbridge, UK: Pica Press. p. 408. ISBN 1-873403-93-3. 
5. ^ Sibley, Charles Gald (1990). Distribution and Taxonomy of the Birds of the World. Yale University Press. p. 522. ISBN 0300049692. 
6. ^ Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott (1980). A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged Edition). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp. 431, 507. ISBN 0-19-910207-4. 
7. ^ Simpson DP (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5 ed.). London: Cassell Ltd.. p. 84. ISBN 0-304-52257-0. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Howell, Steve N.G.; Webb, Sophie (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. p. 597. ISBN 0-19-854012-4. 

External links

• Blue Mockingbird near Douglas, Arizona
• Blue Mockingbird at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, California
• Blue Mockingbird Images Arizona / El Dorado Park in Long Beach, California
• The Nature Writers of Texas- Welcome to the House of the Blue Mockingbird; Wednesday, December 17, 2003; Ron Smith, Valley Morning Star, December 17, 2003, © 2004 [1]