The black oropendola (''Psarocolius guatimozinus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Icteridae Icterids () or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae (), of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. The ...

(New World blackbirds). It is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Description

The male black oropendola grows to a length of about and the female about . The sexes are similar in appearance and are mainly black, with dark chestnut back, rump, part of the wing-coverts and crissum (the area around the

cloaca In animal anatomy, a cloaca ( ), plural cloacae ( or ), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds, a ...

). There is a bluish bare patch on the cheek, edged with pink at its lowest extremity, and an orange-tipped, black beak.

Distribution and habitat

The black oropendola is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to humid forests of northwestern South America. Its range includes northwestern Colombia, as far east as the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

, and the extreme southeastern part of Panama, a total area of occupancy of about . Its altitudinal range is up to about .

Ecology

The habits of the black oropendola have been little studied but its diet probably includes insects, small vertebrates and fruit. It clambers about high in the canopy and may sip nectar from flowers. It nests colonially, with up to twenty birds constructing their nests in one tree. The eggs are pale pink, scantily blotched with reddish brown. The black oropendola is probably

polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

, with one male mating with many females. The breeding season in Panama is February while in Colombia it is April to June.

Status

The black oropendola has a large range and is said to be fairly common. Its population trend seems to be stable and no particular threats have been identified. For these reasons, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1305182

black oropendola The black oropendola (''Psarocolius guatimozinus'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae (New World blackbirds). It is found in Colombia and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Description The ma ...

Birds of Panama Birds of Colombia

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot