Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola luteola) 09 January 2007 - Asa Wright Nature Center, Trinidad Photo © 2007 Joseph Morlan

http://www.asawright.org/

These little birds were common to abundant on both islands, but they seldom held still for a photo. This one would have made a nice photo if the bird would have stopped wagging his tongue and talking while I was trying to take his picture.

This species is centered in the Caribbean where it was the sole surviving member of the Coerebidae (Honeycreeper) family. However, the AOU South American classification committee recently voted to abandon Coerebidae and place the Bananaquit next to the Tiaris grassquits and the Galapagos "finches", and to insert them within the Thraupidae (tanagers).

This is a gray-throated race, C. f. luteola found in Trinidad, Tobago and the adjacent South American mainland. However, geographic variation in this species is complex with 41 subspecies currently recognized by Howard & Moore and by Clements. Furthermore, this species is somewhat polymorphic with different color morphs within each subspecies. Thus some individuals from one subspecies may resemble individuals from another.

Photo is resized, but uncropped.

Olympus D-550z / Nikon FieldScope 3 / 30XWA (hand-held - no adapter).
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