The Ecuadorian cacique (''Cacicus sclateri'') 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 lightweig ...

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 ...

. It is found in Colombia,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, where 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 ...

is subtropical or tropical 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' ...

. A fairly common bird with a wide range, the IUCN has rated it a "

species 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. Th ...

Description

The male Ecuadorian cacique grows to a length of about , with the female being a little smaller. The plumage of both sexes is entirely black, the

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for fo ...

is whitish, long and pointed, and the

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

is blue in adults and brown in juveniles. This bird can be distinguished from the otherwise similar

solitary cacique The solitary cacique or solitary black cacique (''Cacicus solitarius'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are ...

(''Cacicus solitarius'') because that species is larger, has a darker-coloured iris and spends more time in undergrowth and near the ground and less time in trees. Also similar is the

red-rumped cacique The red-rumped cacique (''Cacicus haemorrhous'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is a species of the Amazon Basin and the Guyanas in northern South America, and is only coastal there in the Guyanas and the Amazon River outlet to ...

(''C. haemorrhous''), but it reveals its bright red rump patch when in flight. This bird has a number of noisy calls, including a repeated "péach-yo" and "péach-yo-yo", uttered while perched with raised tail, a "k-cheeyow?", and a "kweeyh-kweeyh-kweeyh-kweeyh-wonhh?" among others.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and northeastern Peru. It typically lives in moist woodland and the edges of riverside and

Várzea forest A várzea forest is a seasonal floodplain forest inundated by whitewater rivers that occurs in the Amazon biome. Until the late 1970s, the definition was less clear and várzea was often used for all periodically flooded Amazonian forests. Althoug ...

s, at altitudes of up to .

Ecology

An arboreal bird, the Ecuadorian cacique usually feeds alone but sometimes pairs of birds or small family groups move together through the tree

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

. It often visits flowering and fruiting trees and can sometimes be seen probing the petioles of ''

Cecropia ''Cecropia'' is a Neotropical genus consisting of 61 recognized species with a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees. The genus consists of pioneer trees in the more or less humid parts of the Neotropics, with the majority of the speci ...

'' trees. Its diet is mainly insects such as

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,0 ...

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s and

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

s, as well as fruit and possibly nectar.

Status

''C. sclateri'' has a wide range, its area of occupancy being estimated as . The tropical forests in which it lives are being degraded, reducing the area of suitable habitat, however it is a fairly common species, and the rate of any decline in total population is likely to be slow, so 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 natur ...

has assessed its conservation status as "

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. Th ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1302643

Ecuadorian cacique The Ecuadorian cacique (''Cacicus sclateri'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. A fairly common bird with a wide ra ...

Birds of the Colombian Amazon Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot