#nesopsar nigerrimus

[birdstudies]

January 27, 2024 - Jamaican Blackbird (Nesopsar nigerrimus) Found only in Jamaica, these blackbirds live in wet mountain forests. They mostly eat insects and other invertebrates, as well as small frogs and lizards and some berries, often foraging in bromeliads and moss while climbing up tree trunks and branches. Breeding between May and July, females build bulky cup-shaped nests from orchids and rootlets on trees, often under bromeliads. They lay clutches of two eggs and incubate them alone, though both parents feed the chicks and protect the nests. Classified as Endangered by the IUCN, their population is declining due to habitat loss in their small and fragmented range, especially from bauxite mining, agriculture, and the charcoal industry. This bird is part of my yearly tradition of drawing closely related blackbird species on the anniversary of my first bird. Here are the others, if you’d like to see the whole group: Male Brewer’s Blackbird, Female Brewer’s Blackbird, Male Rusty Blackbird, Female Rusty Blackbird, Scrub Blackbird, Melodious Blackbird, Cuban Blackbird, Austral Blackbird, Bolivian Blackbird, Chopi Blackbird

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Jamaican Blackbird

Photo: Nick Athanas

"A species of higher elevation woodlands where it is often found feeding high in the trees, even near the forest canopy, rather unlike other blackbird species. Indeed, any blackbird found foraging within Jamaica’s upper elevation forests is very likely this species. The song is a wheezy 'whee-whee-oooo' and variations thereof; common call is emphatic, squeaky 'wheet.'"

- eBird