Cuban Blackbird

About the Cuban Blackbird

The Cuban blackbird (Ptiloxena atroviolacea) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is endemic to Cuba The Cuban blackbird has a complicated taxonomic history. It was formally described in 1839 with the binomial Quiscalus atroviolaceous. Later in the century most authors placed it in genus Dives. In 1892 Frank Chapman assigned it to the monotypic genus Ptdiloxena but most others retained it in Dives. Studies published in the early twenty-first century confirmed that it belongs in Ptdiloxena. The IOC adopted the change in 2014, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World in 2016, and the American Ornithological Society in 2017.

The Cuban blackbird is 25 to 28 cm (10 to 11 in) long and weighs 70 to 94 g (2.5 to 3.3 oz). The sexes have almost the same plumage. Adult males are entirely black with bluish and purple iridescence on their upperparts and a greenish sheen on the wings and uppertail coverts. Females are also black but have less iridescence than males. Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles are a duller... Wikipedia →