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Yellow-rumped Cacique | Cacicus cela
Geelstuitbuidelspreeuw | Cacique lomiamarillo
The Yellow-rumped Cacique is a black cacique with yellow wing patches, a yellow rump and a yellow tail base. It is widespread in South America; in the guide area it occurs only in Panama. It nests in noisy colonies, often in trees over water or next to wasp nests.
Voice
Highly varied and noisy: whistled, gurgling, rasping and clucking notes, often mixed with imitations of other birds and other sounds. Call a harsh chack.
Recording: Juan Freile — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
23–28 cm. Male glossy black, with a large yellow patch on the wing coverts, yellow lower back and rump, yellow undertail coverts and a yellow tail base; the rest of the tail is black. Bill pointed and pale ivory. Eye pale blue. Female smaller and duller brownish black. Young birds have a dark eye.
Confusion species
Scarlet-rumped Cacique Cacicus uropygialis is smaller, has no yellow and has a red rump. Crested Oropendola Psarocolius decumanus is much larger, has a chestnut rump, an all-yellow tail with a black centre and no yellow on the wing. Mexican Cacique Cassiculus melanicterus has a similar pattern but occurs only on the Pacific side of Mexico and Guatemala.
Habitat
Forest edge, riverbanks, clearings, plantations and semi-open country with isolated tall trees in the lowlands. It eats insects, fruit and nectar. Colonies are in isolated trees, often over water or next to wasp nests, which gives protection against nest predators.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
From Panama through northern and central South America, east of the Andes to Bolivia and eastern Brazil; also in western Ecuador and north-western Peru. In the guide area in central and eastern Panama, mainly around the Panama Canal and further east. Resident.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
A colony can be recognised by the many nests hanging in one isolated tree and by the constant, varied sounds; birds flying in and out show the yellow rump and wing patches.
Conservation status
Not threatened (LC). Widespread and common in South America; local in the guide area. It uses semi-open and human-altered landscapes, as long as tall trees remain for its colonies.
Scientific name
Cacicus cela | (Linnaeus, 1758)
Linnaeus described the species in 1758 as Parus Cela; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Cacicus was introduced in 1799 by De Lacépède. Cacicus comes from Spanish cacique 'chief', a Taíno word, after the striking, 'lordly' appearance. Why Linnaeus chose cela is unclear; it may be short for Greek kelainos 'black', fitting the mainly black plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from Suriname.