Red-breasted Blackbird
Sturnella militaris
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyIcteridae (New World Blackbirds and Orioles)
- GenusSturnella (Yellow-breasted Meadowlarks)
- SpeciesSturnella militaris (Red-breasted Blackbird)
About the Red-breasted Blackbird
The red-breasted meadowlark (Leistes militaris) is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It was formerly named red-breasted blackbird but is not closely related to the red-winged blackbird group. The red-breasted meadowlark was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the buntings in the genus Emberiza and coined the binomial name Emberiza militaris. Linnaeus cited his own catalogue of the cabinet of curiosities belonging to the king of Sweden, Adolf Frederick, as well as the description and illustration of the "Greater Bull-Finch" by the English naturalist George Edwards's that had been published in 1747. Neither Edwards nor Linnaeus knew the origin of their specimens but in 1902 the German ornithologists Hans von Berlepsch and Ernst Hartert designated type locality as Suriname. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The red-breasted meadowlark is a small icterid, 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weighing 40–48 g (1.4–1.7 oz). Males are larger than females. The male has mainly black plumage, apart from a bright red throat, belly and wing... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Red-breasted Blackbird in Chirripó National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Chirripó National Park
Eastern Meadowlark
Sturnella magna
Melodious Blackbird
Dives dives
Baltimore Oriole
Icterus galbula
Chestnut-headed Oropendola
Psarocolius wagleri
Bronzed Cowbird
Molothrus aeneus
Great-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus mexicanus
Yellow-billed Cacique
Amblycercus holosericeus
Shiny Cowbird
Molothrus bonariensis
Montezuma Oropendola
Psarocolius montezuma
Giant Cowbird
Molothrus oryzivorus
Orchard Oriole
Icterus spurius
Scarlet-rumped Cacique
Cacicus uropygialis
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.