Antillean Euphonia

IDENTIFICATION: The euphonia is one of the most colorful native birds in Puerto Rico. The male has a bright yellow rump and undersides, an orange forehead, a bright blue crown, and blue-black wings, back, tail, and cheeks. The female is dull olive green, with a lighter blue cap than the maleÆs. Length: 10-12 cm.; weight: 13-16 g.

VOICE: This species is more often heard than seen. It has a single or double, tinkling note that sounds like a tiny bell, "chit-it", and a variable, ventriloqual, twittering song, somewhat like the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) of North America. Audio 3 (J. Faaborg, D. Deifik, M. Oberle).

HABITAT: Mountain forests, shade coffee plantations, and lowland dry scrub forests.

HABITS: Travels in small flocks in search of its favorite food: the seeds of mistletoe (Phoradendron sp.; capitana in Spanish). Several birds will forage in a single clump of mistletoe and then travel some distance in an undulating flight, to another mistletoe clump. Often the call and the flight pattern are the only ways to identify the euphonia as it flies high overhead. The birds defecate mistletoe seeds that are very sticky and cling to tree branches, thus facilitating the dispersal of the parasitic mistletoe plant to different trees. Euphonias occasionally eat seeds or fruits of other plants such as Cecropia. Euphonias make a domed nest with an entrance on the side, and lay 3-4 white eggs with reddish brown speckling.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: An uncommon, localized forest species. Until the mid-twentieth century, the euphonia was marketed as a popular cage bird in Puerto Rico because of its beautiful plumage and song. It sold for 5 to 10 cents apiece in markets at the beginning of the 20^th Century. However, all native birds in Puerto Rico are now protected by law, and it is illegal to keep any native species as a pet. After severe hurricanes, such as Hurricane Georges in 1998, euphonias abandon many forest areas or starve, since the fruits that they depend on are destroyed by high winds or treefall. The Antillean Euphonia appeared on a 32-cent U.S. postage stamp (1998 Tropical Bird stamp series # 445915).

RANGE: Occurs on Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and most of the islands in the eastern Caribbean. Regular along the forested trail around Parador Hacienda Juanita near Maricao and in the shade coffee plantations near Ciales.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; FRINGILLIDAE; Euphoniinae. There are three subspecies; the one on Puerto Rico, Euphonia musica sclateri is endemic to the island. Closely related species occur from Mexico south to Brazil and Bolivia, and these species were formerly lumped with the Antillean Euphonia as a single species called the Blue-hooded Euphonia.


Photo: W. Arendt*

References

Carlo, T. 1999. Alimentación de las aves terrestres de Puerto Rico. El Bien-te-veo 2(2):2.

Carlo, T. A., Collazo, J. A., and M. J. Groom. 2003. Avian fruit preferences across a Puerto Rican forested landscape: pattern consistency and implications for seed removal. Oecologia 134:119-131.

Collazo, J.A. and Bonilla Martínez, G. I. 1988. Comparación de la riqueza de aves entre plantaciones de pino hondureño (Pinus caribaea) y áreas de bosque nativo en el Bosque Estatal de Carite, Cayey, Puerto Rico. Carib. J. Sci. 24:1-10.

Isler M.L. and P.R. Isler. 1987. The Tanagers: natural history, distribution, and identification. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Klicka, J., K.P. Johnson, and S.M. Lanyon. 2000. Nine-primaried oscine relationships. Auk 117(2):321-336.

Levey, D. J. and C. Martφnez del Rio. 2001. It takes guts (and more) to eat fruit: lessons from avian nutritional ecology. Auk. 118(4): 819-831.

Pérez-Rivera, R.A. 1991. Change in the diet and foraging behavior of the Antillean Euphonia in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Hugo. J. Field Ornithol. 62(4):474-478.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Antillean Euphonia, Spanish text

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Photo: J. A. Cruz