Blue-and-white Mockingbird

Overview

The blue-and-white mockingbird (Melanotis hypoleucus) is a species of bird in the family Mimidae that is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is a year-round resident found across parts of Mexico and Central America.

Identification

• Measures 24.2 to 28 cm in length with a mean mass of 68 g.
• Features dull slate blue upperparts, slightly brighter on the crown, and slaty black wings and tail.
• Displays a conspicuous black 'mask' extending from the lores past the eye.
• White underparts that darken to bluish or slate gray on the flanks and vent area.
• Song is an 'amazing medley of bird notes' including rapid monosyllables, shrill squeaks, whistles, and guttural croaks.

Habitat

Inhabits a variety of landscapes, including the edges of humid evergreen forest, pine-oak forest, second growth, and humid and semi-arid scrublands. The species is found in Mexico from south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec through Guatemala to El Salvador and southern Honduras, at elevations between 900 and 3,000 m.

Diet

Primarily forages on the ground by sweeping aside leaf litter with its bill. Its diet consists mainly of invertebrates, though it also consumes small fruits.

Did you know?

The female is solely responsible for building the nest, which is a shallow cup of fibrous roots situated on top of a platform of sticks. Although she performs the incubation and brooding, both sexes participate in feeding the nestlings.