New World blackbirds, troupials and allies | Icteridae

Troepialen | Ictéridos

An exclusively American family that does something different from other songbirds with its bill. The bill is straight, sharp and unhooked, and is used not to pinch things shut but to prise them open: the bird pushes the closed tip into a leaf sheath, a fruit or a crack in the bark and then forces the mandibles apart, exposing the food. In Mexico and Central America the family numbers 45 species, from oropendolas and caciques through the orioles (Icterus) to meadowlarks, grackles and cowbirds. In many species the males are boldly patterned in yellow, orange or red against black, while the females stay duller. The oropendolas, such as Montezuma Oropendola, nest in colonies and weave hanging nests up to a metre long at the branch tips of an isolated tree; the orioles weave smaller pouch nests, and other species build a cup in reeds or a bush. Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds; Giant Cowbird does so with oropendolas and caciques. Great-tailed Grackle is one of the most conspicuous birds in towns and villages, and in winter orioles such as Baltimore Oriole and other species arrive from the north.