Nesopsar nigerrimus
TAXONOMY
Icterus nigerrimus Osburn, 1859, Jamaica.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Carouge de la Jamaïque; German: Bromelienstärling; Spanish: Pradero Jamaicano.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
7 in (18 cm); 1.4 oz (39 g). Sexes similar in coloration. Uniformly black.
DISTRIBUTION
Resident in Jamaica.
HABITAT
Wet montane forests.
BEHAVIOR
Territorial. Jamaican blackbirds spend most of their time foraging in the forest canopy. They vocalize frequently.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Forage in trees, searching epiphytes for invertebrate food.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Monogamous. The bulky nest is constructed of rootlets and epiphytic orchids, and is placed against the trunk of a tree in the lower canopy. Two eggs are laid in May–July. Incubation is about 14 days. Single brooded.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Endangered. Although locally common, they are found only in places where there is mature rainforest, habitat that is being destroyed for coffee plantations.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
