Western Chat-tanager
Encyclopedia
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.
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 Bahoruco in the south-west of the Dominican Republic
. It mainly forages on the ground.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
belonging to the tanager
Tanager
The tanagers comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has an American distribution.There were traditionally about 240 species of tanagers, but the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux...
family, Thraupidae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
in the West Indies. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the Eastern Chat-tanager
Eastern Chat-tanager
The Eastern Chat-tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.It is found on the island of Hispaniola where it is now restricted to central and southern parts of the Dominican Republic. It formerly also occurred on the Samaná Peninsula as well as on Gonâve Island in Haiti...
(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
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
and intron
Intron
An intron is any nucleotide sequence within a gene that is removed by RNA splicing to generate the final mature RNA product of a gene. The term intron refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene, and the corresponding sequence in RNA transcripts. Sequences that are joined together in the final...
sequences. Speciation
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
is likely to have occurred at a time when present-day Hispaniola consisted of two separate islands.
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
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
. 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
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
in mountainous areas. It occurs in southern Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
and in the Sierra de Bahoruco in the south-west of the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. It mainly forages on the ground.