Beautiful Birds of Belize Blog – Post #59

By Jim Gain

8/4/2023

• Scientific Name: Melanoptila glabrirostris
• Name in Spanish (Mexico): Maullador Negro
• ABA 4-Letter Bird Code: BLCA
• Family: Mimidae – Mockingbirds and Thrashers
• Order: Passeriformes – Perching Birds

About this Species

The Black Catbird, also known as the Black mockingbird, is a small, sleek bird that is primarily black in color. It has a distinctive red eye and a long, slender tail. The species  is endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula of eastern Mexico, northern Belize and northern Guatemala, including smaller offshore cays. Relatively common near coast and on islands, but uncommon to rare and local throughout most of mainland range. In Belize, it can be found in a variety of forested habitats, including broadleaf forests, pine-oak forests, and mangrove swamps.

Black Catbirds are known for their melodious, flute-like songs, which they use to communicate with each other and to defend their territories. Black Catbirds are known to feed on a variety of insects, fruits, and berries, and can often be seen hopping along the forest floor in search of food. Range is now fragmented and overall population likely declining.

In Belize, although viable populations exist on offshore islands it has been noted as a ‘‘Species of Concern’’. Much of southern portion of Ambergris Caye has been deforested since 2000, and mangroves are currently being cleared for housing and tourism development. Habitat clearance has also been severe on nearby Caye Caulker, where the Siwa-Ban Reserve was established in 1998 with the express purpose of protecting the population there; it is uncertain whether this initiative has been effective.

>> Next Post on Sunday, 8/6/2023 – Chestnut-colored Woodpecker

Previous posts from Beautiful Birds of Belize Blog

• White Ibis
• Limpkin
• Anhinga
• Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
• Gray-breasted Martin