The yellow-rumped marshbird (''Pseudoleistes guirahuro'') is a species of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is a medium-sized bird found in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, where its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are dry

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s, and pastureland.

Description

The yellow-rumped marshbird is named for its yellow belly, flanks, thighs, and rump. Its head is blackish in color; its breast, back, and wings are blackish brown. The species exhibits slight size dimorphism, with males weighing on average 91.2 g and females weighing on average 81.9 g.

Distribution and habitat

The yellow-rumped marshbird is found in southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, northern Uruguay, and the

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

and

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragui, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It has ...

provinces of northeastern Argentina. Its range in Brazil overlaps with that of the

brown-and-yellow marshbird The brown-and-yellow marshbird (''Pseudoleistes virescens'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in the Pampas and north to the Paraguayan border and Rio Grande do Sul, where its natural habitats are swamp A swamp is a ...

. It is most commonly found in shrubby marsh or moist grasslands and avoids treeless habitats.

Ecology

The yellow-rumped marshbird feeds on ground arthropods and small vertebrates. Marshbirds are

gregarious Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother was ...

and form flocks of 10-20 birds for most of the year. From September through November, single marshbird pairs can be observed, indicating the beginning of the breeding cycle. One individual will gather nest materials, inspect nest sites, and build the nest, while the other produces short songs. After eggs are laid, three to four adult marshbirds can be observed to guard the nest and bring food to chicks, indicating that yellow-rumped marshbirds are regular

cooperative breeders Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group s ...

References

External links

Yellow-rumped marshbird videos
yellow-rumped marshbird Birds of Argentina Birds of Brazil Birds of Paraguay Birds of Uruguay Birds of the Pantanal yellow-rumped marshbird Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Icteridae-stub