Western Chat-tanager

Taxobox
name = Western Chat-tanager


status = NR
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Thraupidae
genus = "Calyptophilus"
species = "C. tertius"
binomial = "Calyptophilus tertius"
binomial_authority = Wetmore, 1929
synonyms = "Calyptophilus frugivorus tertius"

The Western Chat-tanager ("Calyptophilus tertius") is a passerine bird belonging to the tanager family, Thraupidae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Eastern Chat-tanager ("C. frugivorus") but is now usually considered to be a separate species. There is a high degree of divergence between the two in mitochondrial DNA and intron sequences. Speciation is likely to have occurred at a time when present-day Hispaniola consisted of two separate islands. [aut|Townsend, Andrea K.; Rimmer, Christopher C.; Latta, Steven C. & Lovette, Irby J.: " [http://www.vinsweb.org/assets/pdf/chtaposter.pdf Speciation from ancient geographic barriers in the endemic Hispaniolan chat-tanagers ("Calyptophilus"): multi-locus evidence for phylogeographic structure.] ]

It is 20 centimetres long. The upperparts are dark brown. The breast and throat are white shading into the grey-brown belly and flanks. There is a yellow patch between the eye and bill. The tail is long and rounded. The bird has whistling and buzzing calls. The Eastern Chat-tanager is similar but has a bare yellow ring around the eye and is smaller at 17 centimetres.

The Western Chat-tanager inhabits wet forest in mountainous areas. It occurs in southern Haiti and in the Sierra de Baoruco in the south-west of the Dominican Republic. It mainly forages on the ground.

References

*aut|Raffaele, Herbert; Wiley, James; Garrido, Orlando; Keith, Allan & Raffaele, Janis (2003) "Birds of the West Indies", Christopher Helm, London.