i>Coereba flaveola

The Bananaquit

The colourful bananaquit is a small and distinctive bird with black to greyish upperparts, bright yellow underparts, a conspicuous, long white eyestripe, and a slender, pointed, down-curved beak. The beak is black with a reddish spot at the base, while the throat may be black, white or grey, and there is sometimes a white spot on the wing (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7). The tail is short and is dark in colour, and the legs are also dark (2) (4) (6). The bananaquit is highly variable in appearance across its range, and an impressive 41 subspecies are currently recognised (2) (8), which differ in bill length, throat colour, the extent of yellow on the underparts, the shade of the upperparts and the presence or absence of a white wing spot. In some areas, entirely sooty or blackish forms occur (2) (3). The female bananaquit may be paler in colour than the male (7), while juveniles are paler and duller, and have a more yellowish eyestripe (2) (4). Although in the past the bananaquit has been varyingly classified along with honeycreepers, tanagers and warblers, it is now considered to be the sole member of its own family, the Coerebidae (3) (4) (6). The bananaquit’s song is described as a high-pitched series of thin, rapid, unmusical notes, and shows much geographical variation, while the call is a short, high-pitched tsip or seet (2) (4) (5) (6). 41 subspecies. http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatbirdblog/2012/07/31/the-bananaquit-or-sugar-bird-natural-history-and-captive-care/ Diet In common with flower-peckers, Bananaquits pierce flower bases to get at the nectar within. Although this feeding method is often termed “nectar-robbing”, as pollination is not assisted, field studies have shown that Bananaquits do accumulate and distribute pollen as they forage. Soft fruits are handled in the same manner. Aphids, small spiders and other invertebrates are also consumed. There is a good deal of variation in coloration across the range, and the calls of widely-separated groups vary as well. In common with hummingbirds, honey-eaters and similar birds, the Bananaquit’s tongue is lined with bristly projections to facilitate nectar collection. http://cexams.net/birds/?bird=Bananaquit Key Features Drills a hole in the side of a flower with its long bill, then licks the sweet nectar with its feathered tongue Builds two types of dome-shaped nests, one for roosting, the other for breeding Despite its name, it does not eat bananas Where Common in Central and South America, including islands in the Caribbean, excluding Cuba and the Caymans; in North America, only in Florida Did You Know Some bananaquit nests examined in Tobago were composed of 400–650 individual pieces of plant materials. The bananaquit is the territory bird for the U.S. Virgin Islands. The bananaquit uses a technique called gaping to eat the inside of pupae, the cocoon stage of developing insects. It pierces the case, opens its bill slightly and licks the inside with its specialized tongue. Conservation The bananaquit is common throughout its range, and is currently not endangered. Its exploitation of a variety of natural vegetation, as well as hummingbird feeders and urban planters, has contributed to its success. Habitat destruction, as well as insecticide poisoning, could be potential threats in the near future. quizlet.com How tongues of nectar feeders are adaptive to diet -bananaquit tongue: forked w fine brush like hairs. good for absorbing nectar and fruit juices -hummingbird tongue: forked at tip, curved, making a hollow channel to suck nectar www.arkive.org The bananaquit is an active, energetic bird, often seen clinging to flowers which it probes or pierces for nectar with its sharp, curved beak, extracting the nectar using a specially adapted, brush-like tongue. It will also pierce fruits for their juices (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) and sometimes supplements the diet with small insects and spiders, which it gleans from vegetation (2) (7). This endearing bird can even become quite tame, taking sugar from bowls in hotels or gardens (5), leading to its nickname of ‘sugar bird’. The bananaquit is believed to act as a pollinator for some of the flowers it visits (7) (10).