Ecuadorian Cacique (Cacicus sclateri)

Identification & Behavior: ~23 cm (9 in). The Ecuadorian Cacique is solid black. The iris is sky blue. The bill is pale yellow and pointy. The tail is roundish. It is very similar to the more common and widespread Solitary Black Cacique but has a noticeably sky blue iris. It does not overlap with the very similar Yellow-billed Cacique, which ranges at high elevations on the east slope of the Andes. It forages in the forest canopy in pairs or family groups.

Status: The Ecuadorian Cacique is generally rare in the forest canopy and forest edges in the northern Amazonian lowlands in the department of Loreto. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Cacique Ecuatoriano.

Sub-species: Ecuadorian Cacique (Cacicus sclateri), A. J. C. Dubois, 1887.

Meaning of Name: Cacicus: Spanish Caique= Indian Chief. sclateri: In honor of Dr. Philip Lutley Sclater (1829-1913) English ornithologist, collector.

See more of the Family Icteridae