The melodious blackbird (''Dives dives'') is a

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

tropical

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 lightweig ...

Description

The adult is a medium-sized blackbird with a rounded tail. The male is long and weighs . The slightly smaller female is long and weighs . The adult plumage is entirely black with a bluish gloss, and the bill, legs and feet are also black. The iris is brown. Females are identically plumaged to the males; young birds are brownish black and lack iridescence. There are no subspecies.

Voice

The song is a duet between pairs, with a ''see'' note, followed by a ''whit'' and a northern cardinal-like whistle. The call is a metallic .

Distribution and habitat

''D. dives'' is a resident breeder from coastal eastern and south-eastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to Costa Rica. Its range is expanding. El Salvador was colonized in the 1950s, and eastern Guatemala in the 1960s. Prior to 1989 there was only one Costa Rican record, but it is now easily seen at least as far south as San José, and it is expected to colonize

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 Co ...

. The melodious blackbird inhabits a wide range of habitats, but avoids dense forest and thick undergrowth. It has adapted to human habitation and can be seen in gardens and on lawns. The melodious blackbird forages mainly on the ground for

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s but will also take nectar and ripening

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

ears as well as other plants, such as the fruits of the

gumbo-limbo ''Bursera simaruba'', commonly known as gumbo-limbo, copperwood, chaca, West Indian birch, naked Indian, and turpentine tree, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to the Neotropics, from South Florida to Mexico and the Caribbean ...

(''Bursera simaruba'') and ''

Trophis racemosa ''Trophis racemosa'', commonly named white ramoon, is a species of plant of the fig family native to Latin America. References Moraceae Plants described in 1753 {{Moraceae-stub ...

''.Foster, Mercedes S. (2007): The potential of fruiting trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico. ''Bird Conservation International'' 17(1): 45-61.
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Behaviour

Breeding

Breeding birds are highly territorial, and adults will attack predators like the

brown jay The brown jay (''Psilorhinus morio'') is a large American jay which has the habitus of a magpie, but is slightly smaller and with a shorter tail, though the bill is larger. It occurs from Mexico south into Central America on the Gulf slope. T ...

, but small flocks form outside the

nesting season The nesting season is the time of year during which birds and some other animals, particularly some reptiles, build nests, lay eggs in them, and in most cases bring up their young. It is usually in the spring. Bird conservation Bird conservat ...

. A breeding pair will give a display in which each bird spreads its tail, extends its wings, and ruffles its plumage. Both sexes build a

cup nest A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American robin or Eurasian bla ...

of plant material high in a bush or tree and line it with mud and dung. The female lays three or four brown-blotched blue eggs, which she incubates alone, although the male helps with feeding the chicks. This species is not known to be parasitised by

cowbird Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus ''Molothrus'' in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin, and are obligate brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species. The genus was introduced by English naturalist Will ...

s, which presumably has also contributed to its success.

Status

This species has benefited from

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

, which has allowed its rapid range expansion through the creation of suitable habitat.

References

External links

* *
Photo and article
at birdguatemala.org * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1588405 melodious blackbird Birds of Central America Birds of Mexico Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of Belize Birds of Guatemala Birds of Honduras Birds of El Salvador Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica melodious blackbird melodious blackbird