blue mockingbird

When he first described the blue mockingbird in 1827, William Swainson assigned it to the mockingbird Orpheus, and when Orpheus became a junior synonym for the genus Mimus, the species was moved accordingly. Not all authorities agreed; several placed it in the thrush Turdus. However, when Charles Lucien Bonaparte moved it to its current genus Melanotis in 1850, most authorities quickly followed suit.{{cite book |title=Bulletin of the United States National Museum, Volume 50, part 4 |year=1907 |author=United States National Museum |publisher=Government Publishing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=209–212}} There is disagreement as to whether it is monotypic or not.

Among taxonomists who believe the species is polytypic, two subspecies are generally recognized.

• M. c. caerulescens, the nominate subspecies, is found in the pine-oak zone of western Mexico, from southern Sonora south to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
• M. c. longirostris is found only on the Tres Marías Islands, off the coast of western Mexico.

The blue mockingbird has historically been considered conspecific with the closely related blue-and-white mockingbird.{{cite book |title=Distribution and Taxonomy of the Birds of the World |first1=Charles Gald |last1=Sibley |first2=Burt Leavelle |last2=Monroe |year=1990 |publisher=Yale University Press |page=522 |isbn=0-300-04969-2}} Its species name is derived from the Latin adjective caerǔlěus, meaning "blue".{{cite book|author = Simpson DP| title = Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher = Cassell Ltd.| year = 1979|edition = 5th|location = London|page=84| isbn=0-304-52257-0}}

Measuring {{convert|9.5|–|10.5|in|cm|abbr=on}} in length, and weighing between {{convert|50.2|and|59.7|g|oz|abbr=on}}, the blue mockingbird is a medium-sized mimid. Individuals of the subspecies caerulescens have a mean body mass slightly higher than that for individuals of the subspecies longirostris — {{convert|63.5|g|oz|abbr=on}} for the former and {{convert|59.7|g|oz|abbr=on}} for the latter.

The blue mockingbird lives in a variety of woodlands: humid forest, riparian thickets, scrub, pine-oak forests and second growth. It is found at elevations ranging from lowlands to {{convert|2450|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

The blue mockingbird builds a cup nest of twigs and rootlets.

The blue mockingbird is an omnivore; it feeds primarily on invertebrates, but also on some vegetable matter.

Because of its very large range and sizable population (estimated to number 500,000–4,999,999 individuals), the blue mockingbird is rated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There is, however, evidence that its overall numbers are dropping, primarily due to habitat fragmentation and loss. The Mexican government has named the longirostris subspecies as a taxon of "special concern".

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{{cite book | title = CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses | edition = 2nd | first = John B. | last = Dunning Jr. | date = 5 December 2007 | publisher = CRC Press | location = Boca Raton, FL, US | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TcnOTPILlcEC&pg=PA353 | page = 353 | isbn = 978-1-4200-6444-5}}

{{cite book |title=A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America |first1=Steve N.G. |last1=Howell |first2=Sophie |last2=Webb |page=[https://archive.org/details/guidetobirdsofme0000howe/page/597 597] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-19-854012-4 | url = https://archive.org/details/guidetobirdsofme0000howe|url-access=registration }}

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{{cite book | title = Birder's Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NTqpIpyE5fUC&pg=PA430 | page = 430 | first = Jeffrey | last = Wells | year = 2007 | location = Princeton, NJ, US | publisher = Princeton University Press | isbn = 978-0-691-12322-6 }}

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• [http://www.azfo.org/gallery/2009/html1/BLMO_Douglas_Moore_20090205.html Blue Mockingbird near Douglas, Arizona]
• [http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/blmo.htm Blue Mockingbird at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, California] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217002859/http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/blmo.htm |date=2013-02-17 }}
• [http://www.tsuru-bird.net/a_species/mockingbird_blue Blue Mockingbird Images Arizona / El Dorado Park in Long Beach, California]

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blue mockingbird

Category:Birds of Mexico

Category:Endemic birds of Mexico

blue mockingbird

Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Category:Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental

Category:Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur

Category:Taxa named by William Swainson