Western chat-tanager


The western chat-tanager is a passerine bird belonging to the family Calyptophilidae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the eastern chat-tanager but is now usually considered to be a separate species. There is a high degree of divergence between the two in mitochondrial DNA and intron sequences. Speciation is likely to have occurred on two ancient islands which later fused to form present-day Hispaniola.

Description

It is long. The upperparts are dark brown. The breast and throat are white shading into the grey-brown belly and flanks. There is a yellow patch between the eye and bill. The tail is long and rounded. The bird has whistling and buzzing calls. The eastern chat-tanager is similar but has a bare yellow ring around the eye and is smaller at.

Habitat &; distribution

The western chat-tanager inhabits wet forest in mountainous areas, usually 745 to 2200 meters. It occurs in southern Haiti and in the Dominican Republic, only in the Sierra de Bahoruco, in the southwest of the country. It mainly forages on the ground.