Endemic bird of the day : Black-crowned Palm-Tanager

Abstract

Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) day 16 poster, dedicated to the Black-crowned Palm-Tanager, locally known as Cuatro Ojos (“four-eyes”). This striking bird is a medium-sized passerine endemic to the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) and some satellite islands. Commonly found throughout the island, these birds are easily identified by their olive back contrasting with a gray nape and underparts, and a black head bearing a unique pattern of four white spots, hence its Spanish name Cuatro Ojos. Interestingly, while these birds are called tanagers, they are not in the same family as many of the other tropical tanagers, Thraupidae. They actually reside in their own family (Phaenicophilidae), along with several other of Hispaniola’s unique endemics.