Antillean Euphonia Chlorophonia musica Scientific name definitions
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Chlorophonia musica ("Gmelin, JF", 1789)
Definitions
- CHLOROPHONIA
- musica
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
Introduction
The Antillean Euphonia is a locally common resident on two of the Greater Antilles, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, as well as being a rarer resident on nine of the Lesser Antilles, from Barbuda south to Grenada. There are also records from several other islands in the southern West Indies, hinting at the species’ capacity to wander, at least occasionally. There is considerable plumage variation in males on some of the different islands, varying from basically female-like plumage on the Lesser Antilles, to dark above and yellow below on Puerto Rico, and dark above and orange-yellow below, as well as on the rump and forehead, on Hispaniola. Each of the three subspecies recognized here are elevated to species status by some authorities. The Antillean Euphonia prefers reasonably densely forested areas, from the lowlands to highest elevations, and it sometimes joins mixed-species flocks containing both insectivores and frugivores, as well as forming comparatively large single-species roosts during the non-breeding season. Their bright plumage and lively voice have, in the past, led to their popularity as caged birds, as described in the passage below from Alexander Wetmore’s monograph on the birds of Puerto Rico:
“For this and their bright colors they are prized greatly as cage birds, and about Ponce and Juana Diaz bird catching is a regular occupation with the boys, and the birds are offered in the markets for 5 and 10 cents apiece. In catching them, a bird, usually a female, is shut up in a wicker cage, and a convenient perch or the top of the cage smeared with bird lime. The cage is then placed in a bush, and the captive whistles loudly, calling down the others; or the bird catcher holds the cage in his hand, up toward the trees, where the free birds hop about excitedly calling and whistling loudly. The crate is then moved rapidly back and forth or carried away, the boy running quickly, when the notes of the captive, as it jostles about inside, prove too much for the others, and they fly down. Once they alight, their fate is sealed, and in a few minutes they are inside the cage, themselves captive.”