The eastern chat-tanager (''Calyptophilus frugivorus'') is a

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

species of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird 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 ...

belonging to the family Calyptophilidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

, in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

; it is possibly

extirpated Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...

from

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The eastern chat-tanager has three subspecies, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

''C. f. frugivorus'', ''C. f. neibae'', and ''C. f. abbotti''. Of these, only ''C. f. neibae'' is confirmed extant; the other two are considered

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

. It shares its genus with the

western chat-tanager The western chat-tanager (''Calyptophilus tertius'') is a Vulnerable species of passerine bird belonging to the family Calyptophilidae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Taxonomy a ...

(''C. tertius''), which was previously treated as a fourth subspecies. The genus was long included in family

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family (biology), family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12 ...

, the "true" tanagers, but it was moved in 2017.Hilty, S. and E. de Juana (2020). Eastern Chat-Tanager (''Calyptophilus frugivorus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.eactan1.01 retrieved October 8, 2022

Description

The eastern chat-tanager is long and weighs about . It has a long bill and a long tail so it somewhat resembles a

mockingbird Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family (biology), family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species Mimicry, mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly ...

's shape. The sexes have the same

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dusky brown crown and a mostly dark grayish brown face with a yellow line between the bill and eye and a yellow ring around the eye. Their upperparts are dark olive-brown. Their throat and underparts are white with a heavy wash of grayish brown on the flanks and lower belly. Subspecies ''C. f. neibae'' is smaller and darker than the nominate and has a reddish tail. ''C. f. abbotti'' is slightly smaller and a more grayish brown than the nominate.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the eastern chat-tanager, ''C. f. frugivorus'', occurred on the

Samaná Peninsula The Samaná Península is a peninsula in Dominican Republic situated in the province of Samaná. The Samaná Peninsula is connected to the rest of the state by the isthmus of Samaná; to its south is Samaná Bay. The peninsula contains many beach ...

on the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic but is considered extinct, with no records since the early 1980s. The subspecies ''C. f. neibae'' is found in the central Sierra de Neiba mountain range of the western Dominican Dominican Republic and possibly into Haiti. ''C. f. abbotti'' was found on

Gonâve Island Gonâve Island or Zile Lagonav (, ; also ''La Gonâve'') is an island of Haiti located west-northwest of Port-au-Prince in the Gulf of Gonâve. It is the largest of the Hispaniolan satellite islands. The island is an arrondissement (''Arrondis ...

off the west coast of Haiti but is also believed to be extinct since the early 1980s; however, a lack of extensive surveys on the island means the subspecies potentially survives. In the Dominican Republic, the species inhabits dense undergrowth in

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

, especially in ravines and along streams. ''C. f. frugivorus'' was mostly found below but ''C. f. neibae'' can range up to or above . ''C. f. abbotti''s habitat on Gonâve was semi-arid scrublands near sea level.

Behavior

Movement

The eastern chat-tanager is a year-round resident throughout its range. It is secretive and usually encountered on or near the ground.

Feeding

The eastern chat-tanager forages on or near the ground, usually in pairs. Its diet is mostly insects and other invertebrates with a small amount of fruit.

Breeding

The eastern chat-tanager's breeding season is thought to be May to July. Almost nothing is known about its breeding biology. Only one nest has been found; it was cup shaped, placed in a fern by a blackberry ''

Rubus ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, most commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. ...

'' patch, and contained one egg.

Vocalization

Both sexes of the eastern chat-tanager sing, usually at dawn. The species is "regarded as among the finest ingerson Hispaniola". The nominate subspecies' song is "a low slurred or whistled 'swerp, swerp, chip, chip, chip...'" and that of ''C. f. neibae'' is "weet-weet-werp chip-cheep-sweet...". Both make "a sharp 'chin chin chin'" call.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the eastern chat-tanager as Near Threatened. It has a moderate sized range and its estimated population of 10,000 to 16,700 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. The main threats are logging and conversion of habitat to agriculture. It is considered rare to locally common, but " relatively little of the species’ habitat lies within protected areas".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2226567 eastern chat-tanager Endemic fauna of the Dominican Republic Endemic birds of the Caribbean Birds of the Dominican Republic Endemic birds of Hispaniola eastern chat-tanager eastern chat-tanager Taxonomy articles created by Polbot