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Jamaican Euphonia | Euphonia jamaica
Jamaicaanse organist | Eufonia jamaicana
The Jamaican Euphonia is one of the most aberrant euphonias: the male lacks the yellow and blue-black of its relatives and is almost uniform grey-blue. It is common throughout Jamaica, from gardens and orchards to the summit of the Blue Mountains. In Jamaica it is called short-mouth bluequit, after its short, thick bill.
Voice
A dry, scratchy chik and a rapid, jumbled chatter; the call is often heard from the canopy before the bird is seen.
Recording: Kiirsti — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
11–12 cm, compact, with a short tail and a short thick bill. The male is dark grey-blue with a slightly paler head, a yellow patch on the belly and pale undertail coverts. The female has a blue-grey head and nape, an olive-green back and tail, and grey underparts with olive-yellow flanks. Juveniles resemble the female but are duller.
Confusion species
Male Orangequit Euneornis campestris is also grey-blue, but has an orange throat and a thin, slightly curved bill. The female resembles Jamaican Vireo Vireo modestus, which has wing bars, a pale iris and a slimmer bill. The short thick bill and round shape are the best features in both sexes.
Habitat
Open woodland, forest edges, scrub, orchards, coffee plantations, parks and gardens, most numerous in hill country. It feeds mainly on small fruits and berries, especially mistletoe, and also on figs and guava. It forages in pairs or small groups in tree crowns and shrubs.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
Endemic to Jamaica, across the whole island from sea level to about 2250 m on Blue Mountain Peak. The species does not occur outside Jamaica.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Common in gardens and parks, for example around Kingston, and along forest edges in the Blue Mountains and the John Crow Mountains. Fruiting trees and mistletoe attract small groups, which often show well there.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species is common and numbers appear stable; it adapts well to gardens and farmland.
Scientific name
Euphonia jamaica | (Linnaeus, 1766)
Linnaeus described the species in 1766 as Fringilla Jamaica; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Euphonia was introduced in 1806 by Desmarest, A-G. Euphonia is Greek, from eu 'good' and phōnē 'sound': 'sweet-voiced', after the pleasing calls. jamaica refers to Jamaica, the island where the species is endemic. The specimen the first description was based on came from Jamaica.