The brown-backed mockingbird (''Mimus dorsalis'') 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 Mimidae. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The brown-backed mockingbird is a

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

to the

white-banded mockingbird The white-banded mockingbird (''Mimus triurus'') is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D ...

(''Mimus triurus''). It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 23 May 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved May 24, 2021

Description

The brown-backed mockingbird is long and weighs between with an average of . The adult has a well-defined whitish

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

, a black line through the eye, and dusky cheeks. Its crown and upperparts are chestnut brown that is brightest on the rump. The crown has darker streaks. Most of the tail is blackish but the outer three to four feathers are white. Its underside is whitish with a buff tinge to the chest, sides and flanks. The juvenile is similar with the addition of dusky spotting on its breast.Cody, M. L. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Brown-backed Mockingbird (''Mimus dorsalis''), 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.brbmoc1.01 retrieved July 20, 2021

Distribution and habitat

Most of the brown-backed mockingbird's range is in western and southern Bolivia, from La Paz Department south. It also entends into northwestern Argentina as far south as

Tucumán Province Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neigh ...

. The brown-backed mockingbird inhabits arid landscapes of brush, desert shrubs, and hedgerows, often near human habitation. In elevation it mostly occurs between but can be found as low as and as high as .

Behavior

Feeding

The brown-backed mockingbird forages mostly on the ground, but details of its feeding behavior and diet have not been published.

Breeding

The brown-backed mockingbird breeds from November to March. It constructs a cup nest of twigs, often in cactus and sometimes in a bush. The clutch is four eggs. Essentially nothing else is known about its breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

Vocalization

The brown-backed mockingbird's song is "a series of repeated harsh notes and chuckles".

Status

The

IUCN 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 the brown-backed mockingbird as being of Least Concern. It is not a well-studied species, but appears to be common in suitable habitat and there are no known threats to the population.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q901719

brown-backed mockingbird The brown-backed mockingbird (''Mimus dorsalis'') is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found in Argentina and Bolivia. Taxonomy and systematics The brown-backed mockingbird is a sister species to the white-banded mockingbird (' ...

Birds of the Bolivian Andes

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot