Montezuma Oropendola

Montezumastirnvogel ( Gymnostinops montezuma )

The Montezumastirnvogel ( Gymnostinops montezuma ) is a Central American songbird of the family of blackbirds.

Features

The plumage of the male is largely colored maroon, with black head and torso. The tail feathers are yellow, with two darker inner springs. The bare cheeks are blue and have pink skin flaps on. The iris is brown and the long beak black with a red tip. The female looks similar to the male, but has smaller skin flaps. The young birds are less colorful. While the females only 230 g in weight is 38 cm in length, weighs up to 50 cm long, males up to 520 g

Behavior

The Montezumastirnvogel studied in small to larger squads in trees for small vertebrates, large insects, nectar and fruit, such as bananas.

Occurrence

This state bird lives in the lowlands on the Caribbean coast of southeast Mexico to central Panama, but not in El Salvador and southern Guatemala. On the Pacific coast it is seen in Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica. He lives in the tree tops and edges of forests and old plantations.

Breeding biology

The Montezumastirnvogel breeds in colonies with around 30 nests, but there have also been counted in a colony of 172 nests. In every colony dominated by a male, which mates after an elaborate courtship with most females. In a 60-180 cm long hanging nest, the female lays two white to beige, dark speckled eggs, which are incubated 15 days. At 30 days the young birds fledge.

Swell

• Steve NG Howell, Sophie Webb: A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
• Alavaro Jaramillo, Peter Burke ( Illustrator ): New World Blackbirds: The Icterids. Christopher Helm Publishers, 1999, ISBN 0-7136-4333-1.
• FG Stiles, Alexander F. Skutch: A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-8014-9600-4.