The red-breasted chat (''Granatellus venustus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Cardinalidae Cardinalidae (often referred to as the "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply the "cardinals") is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several birds such as the tanager-lik ...

, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus ''Granatellus'' was traditionally placed in family Parulidae, the New World warblers. Studies of DNA sequences in the early 2000s resulted in its being moved to its present family. The red-breasted chat and the other two members of its genus, gray-throated chat (''G. sallaei'') and rose-breasted chat (''G. pelzelni'') form a superspecies.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 19 January 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021Gulson, E. R. (2020). Red-breasted Chat (''Granatellus venustus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rebcha1.01 retrieved May 17, 2021 The red-breasted chat has two subspecies, the nominate ''Granatellus venustus venustus'' and ''G. v. francescae''.

Description

The red-breasted chat is long; 12 specimens weighed between . The adult nominate male's upperside is mostly bluish gray. Most of the face is black, though it has a broad white

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

, and there is a black band across the chest. The chin, throat, sides, and flanks are white; the chest, lower breast, belly, and vent area are vermilion. The adult female's upperparts are slate gray. Most of its face is shades of buff and gray. Its breast and belly are buff and the vent area salmon pink. The immature male's head and upperparts are similar to those of the adult but with less black. The throat and underparts are whitish with a pink wash to the rear. The immature female is similar to the adult.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate red-breasted chat is endemic to western Mexico. It is found year-round from

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and ...

south to the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as t ...

and from there into interior

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...

and possible into northern Guatemala, though there are no records there. It also occurs inland to

Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cu ...

along the

Balsas River The Balsas River (Spanish Río Balsas, also locally known as the Mezcala River, or Atoyac River) is a major river of south-central Mexico. The basin flows through the states of Guerrero, México, Morelos, and Puebla. Downstream of Ciudad Al ...

. ''G. v. francescae'' is restricted to

Islas Marías The Islas Marías ("Mary Islands") are an archipelago of four islands that belong to Mexico. They are located in the Pacific Ocean, some off the coast of the state of Nayarit and about southeast of the tip of Baja California. They are part of t ...

off

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

. It primarily inhabits

thorn forest A thorn forest is a dense scrubland with vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and warm temperate areas with a seasonal rainfall averaging . Regions Africa Is present in the southwest of Africa with smaller areas in other places of Africa. ...

and scrubby woodland and can be found in the understory of

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

and other heavy growth. In addition, the species has been reported in evergreen

swamp forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are foun ...

inland of mangrove swamps and along rivers. In elevation it generally ranges from sea level to though locally it occurs as high as .

Behavior

Feeding

Little is known about the red-breasted chat's foraging habits or diet. It is assumed to eat insects and other

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

Breeding

The red-breasted chat breeds in the wet season, from May to September. Its nest is a cup made of

Spanish moss Spanish moss (''Tillandsia usneoides'') is an epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America, the Southern Uni ...

and other fibers lined with finer material. The clutch size is two to four. Females alone incubated the nests but both sexes provided food to nestlings.

Vocalization

The red-breasted chat's song is a repeated "variable, fairly sweet warble

Its call is a repeated "wet ''plek'' or ''plik''

Status

The IUCN has assessed the red-breasted chat as being of Least Concern. However, it occurs in only two protected areas, and less than 20% of the original forest in its range remains intact.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1588817 red-breasted chat Endemic birds of Western Mexico red-breasted chat red-breasted chat Taxonomy articles created by Polbot