Nombre en español: Mielero común

Nombre cientifico: Coereba Flaveola

Nombre en ingles: Bananaquit

Familia: Thraupidae

Foto: Mauricio Ossa

El platanero o Reinita (Coereba flaveola) es una especie de ave paseriforme, la única del género Coereba. Éste es también el único género de la familia Coerebidae, del orden Passeriformes. Se sabe actualmente que Coerebidae resulta no válida o que debe incluir otros miembros. Coerebidae solía incluir otras aves de América tropical que liban néctar, pero le fueron removidas. La reubicación de Coereba flaveola está pendiente; posiblemente es próxima a algunos gorriones y pinzones americanos (Emberizidae), pero no se conoce su filogenia en forma precisa. La Unión Norteamericana de Ornitólogos (AOU) la clasifica por tanto como incertae sedis.

Coereba flaveola es natural de América Central y Sudamérica, desde México y las Antillas hasta Argentina. Es un visitante raro de la Florida, en Estados Unidos. En Cuba también es rara, aunque probablemente ya sea residente.^{[cita requerida]}

Descripción

Mide unos 11 cm de largo. Ambos sexos son similares. Las partes dorsales de alas y la espalda son de color gris oscuro y en la coronilla se vuelve negra, la rabadilla es amarilla. Tiene una banda superciliar blanca notoria, y otra negra al nivel del ojo. La garganta es blanca, el pecho es amarillo, y las demás partes inferiores son blanco amarillentas. El inmaduro es más opaco y tiene la banda superciliar amarillenta.

El pico negro oscuro, de comisuras rojas, delgado y curvo, adaptado para tomar néctar de flores. Algunas veces perfora las flores por un lado, tomando el néctar sin polinizar la planta. No puede suspenderse en vuelo quieto como los colibríes, por lo que siempre debe posarse mientras se alimenta. Se alimenta mayormente de cambures (Musa sp.), mangos (Mangifera indica) y papaya o lechoza (Carica papaya).⁴ También se alimenta de frutos e insectos. A menudo visita los jardines y puede resultar muy confiado. El apodo de ‘ave azucarera’ le viene de su apetencia por azúcar en grano dispensada en pozuelos o alimentadores de aves, lo que resulta un método común para atraer aves nectarívoras de los géneros Coereba, Dacnis y otros parecidos de lo que antes se consideraba Coerebidae, todas referidas como ‘aves azucareras’.

Las poblaciones que viven en las islas de Granada y San Vicente divergen de las de otras poblaciones antillanas por tener la espalda negra.

Nido

El nido es esférico, con orificio de entrada lateral y recubrimiento interior. La puesta es de hasta tres huevos.

Bananaquit

The bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) is a species of passerine bird of uncertain relation. It is tentatively placed in the tanager family, but classified as incertae sedis by other authorities such as the American Ornithologists Union. Its classification is debated, and it is often placed in its own family: Coerebidae. It has recently been suggested the bananaquit should be split into three species, but this has yet to receive widespread recognition. This small, active nectarivore is found in warmer parts of the Americas, and is generally common.

Taxonomy

The bananaquit was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Certhia flaveola.^[2] It was reclassified as the only member of the genus Coereba by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1809.^[3] Prior to 2005, the bananaquit was assigned to the monotypic family Coerebidae; there is currently no agreement to which family it belongs; some authors place it into the Emberizidae.^[4] Since recent studies have shed some light on the bananaquit’s affinities, many authorities consider Coerebidae an obsolete taxon. The Coerebidae used to contain other nectar-eating birds from the tropical Americas, but these have since been moved. The bananaquit is part of a group that includes Darwin’s finches, Tiaris (grassquits), Loxigilla, etc.—most of which were previously placed in Emberizidae, but are now known to actually be part of the Thraupidae. As such this species is tentatively placed in the family Thraupidae unless a study suggests more accurate placement. Nevertheless, its precise relations remain unresolved, so the American Ornithologists’ Union classes it as a species incertae sedis.

It is still unclear if any of the island subspecies should be elevated to species, but phylogenetic studies have revealed three clades: the nominate group from Jamaica, Hispaniola and the Cayman Islands, the bahamensis group from the Bahamas and Quintana Roo, and the bartholemica group from South and Central America, Mexico (except Quintana Roo), the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico. Several taxa were not sampled, but most of these are easily placed in the above groups based on zoogeography alone. Exceptions are oblita (San Andrés Island) and tricolor (Providencia Island), and their placement is therefore uncertain. In February 2010, the International Ornithological Congress listed bahamensis and bartholemica as proposed splits from C. flaveola.

Subspecies

There are 41 currently recognized subspecies:

Description

The bananaquit is a small bird, although there is some degree of size variation across the various subspecies. Length can range from 4 to 5 in (10 to 13 cm). Weight ranges from 5.5 to 19 g (0.19 to 0.67 oz).

Most subspecies of the bananaquit have dark grey (almost black) upperparts, black crown and sides of the head, a prominent white eyestripe, grey throat, white vent, and yellow chest, belly and rump.

The sexes are alike, but juveniles are duller and often have a partially yellow eyebrow and throat.

In the subspecies bahamensis and caboti from the Bahamas and Cozumel, respectively, the throat and upper chest are white or very pale grey, while ferryifrom La Tortuga Island has a white forehead. The subspecies laurae, lowii and melanornis from small islands off northern Venezuela are overall blackish,^[17]while the subspecies aterrima and atrata from Grenada and Saint Vincent have two plumage morphs, one «normal» and another blackish.^[15] The pink gape is usually very prominent in the subspecies from islands in the Caribbean Sea.

Behaviour

The bananaquit is known for its ability to adjust remarkably to human environments. It often visits gardens and may become very tame. Its nickname, the sugar bird, comes from its affinity for bowls or bird feeders stocked with granular sugar, a common method of attracting these birds. The bananaquit builds a spherical lined nest with a side entrance hole, laying up to three eggs, which are incubated solely by the female. It may also build its nest in man-made objects, such as lampshades and garden trellises. The birds breed all year regardless of season and build new nests throughout the year.

Distribution

It occurs in a wide range of open to semi-open habitats, including gardens and parks, but it is rare or absent in deserts, dense forests (e.g. large parts of the Amazon rainforest) and at altitudes above 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

Wikipedia/eBird/xeno-canto