Black-cheeked warbler
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Basileuterus melanogenys

The black-cheeked warbler (Basileuterus melanogenys ) is a New World warbler, resident breeding bird endemic to the Talamancan montane forests of Costa Rica and western Panama.

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It is normally found in oak forests with a dense bamboo understory from 2500 m altitude to the timberline, but occasionally occurs as low as 1600 m. The breeding pair builds a bulky domed nest with a side entrance on a sloping bank or in a gully, and the female lays two white eggs.

The black-cheeked warbler is 13–13.5 cm long and weighs 13 g. It has a rufous crown, long white supercilia and black cheeks. The upperparts are dull olive, the breast is olive-grey, and the belly is yellow-white. The sexes are similar, but the young bird is browner on the upperparts, has a dull supercilium, a greyer breast, and shows two cinnamon wingbars.

Despite this species’ restricted range, it has three subspecies.

  • B. m. melanogenys, the nominate race described above, breeds in central and southern Costa Rica.
  • B. m. eximius is highly localised in a small area of western Panama, and is slightly whiter on the belly than melanogenys.
  • B. m. bensoni is highly localised in a small area of west-central Panama, and is whiter below than eximius, and a purer grey above.

The black-cheeked warbler primarily feeds on insects, spiders and other small invertebrates, taken low in the undergrowth.

The call note of the black-cheeked warbler is a hard tsit, and the male's song is a lisping spluttered tsi tsi wee tsi tsi wu tsi wee.

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Distribution

Geography

Continents
Biogeographical realms
Black-cheeked warbler habitat map

Biome

Black-cheeked warbler habitat map
Black-cheeked warbler
Attribution License

References

1. Black-cheeked warbler Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-cheeked_warbler
2. Black-cheeked warbler on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22722022/137218012
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/517670

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