''Dives'' is a genus of two
Neotropical
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In biogeogra ...
birds
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
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. The family contains 108 species and is divided into 30 genera. Most species have black as a predominant ...
.
Description
The two species look similar, with plumage ranging from brownish black in juveniles to black with iridescence (green, blue, or violet) in adults, slightly more iridescent in males. The bare parts are black and the eyes are dark brown. The upper edge of the bill (the culmen) is curved, not flattened as in many other icterids, and the bill has a slight hook at the tip. The songs are varied and pleasant.
Taxonomy
The
Cuban blackbird was previously considered a species, but is now considered in its own genus ''Ptiloxena''.
If the ranges of the melodious blackbird and the northern populations of the scrub blackbird overlapped, they would be indistinguishable in the field apart from voice, and some authorities
lump
Lump may refer to:
* "Lump" (song), a 1995 song by The Presidents of the United States of America
* ''Lump'' (compilation album), a 2000 best-of album by The Presidents of the United States of America
* Lump (dog), a dog who inspired Pablo Pic ...
these two species into one; on the other hand some split the scrub blackbird into two species.
This genus is believed to be most closely related to ''
Euphagus'' and ''
Quiscalus
The Bird, avian genus ''Quiscalus'' contains seven of the 11 species of grackles, gregarious passerine birds in the icterid family. They are native to North America, North and South America.
The genus was named and described by French ornitholog ...
''.
Species
It contains two species:
Habitat
Both species live in open habitats, including agricultural land, and have adapted well to human disturbance.
References
*
* Peterson, Alan P. (Editor). 1999
''Zoological Nomenclature Resource'' (Zoonomen) Accessed 2007-07-29.
American blackbirds
Bird genera
{{Icteridae-stub