Family: Coerebidae, Bananaquits view all from this family
Description 4-5" (10-12.5 cm). Small, warbler-like with a thin, decurved bill. Adult has black upperparts, white throat and belly, conspicuous white eyestripe and a white wing patch at the base of primaries; yellow on upper breast and rump; small red mark at base of bill. Immature duller with gray-brown upperparts, less prominent yellow eyebrow and rump.
Habitat Variable habitats, including moist forests and edge, plantations, second growth, gardens; often forages for insects or takes nectar at flowering trees and shrubs. Relatively adaptable in disturbed habitats.
Nesting 2 whitish eggs with thick brown speckling, placed in a globe nest of plant fibers and mosses. Nest opening faces down.
Range A familiar resident of the New World tropics, occurs from Mexico and the Caribbean to Peru and northern Argentina; found in U.S. as a rare stray from the Bahamas to southeastern Florida and the Keys.
Voice A repeated series of high-pitched, buzzy, disorganized trills; call note a sharp quit.
Discussion This brightly colored songbird, classified in its own family (Coerebidae), is a signature species in much of the neotropics, where it is relatively tolerant of human activities. Most strays to southeastern Florida and the Keys are of Bahaman origin.
