English          -          Bananaquit

Portuguese   -          Cambacica

Latin              -           Coereba flaveola

The bananaquit is a small and distinctive bird with black to greyish upperparts, bright yellow underparts, a conspicuous, long white eyestripe, and a slender, pointed, down-curved beak. The beak is black with a reddish spot at the base, while the throat may be black, white or grey,  there is sometimes a white spot on the wing. The tail is short and dark in colour, with dark legs. The bananaquit is highly variable in appearance across its range, and an impressive 41 subspecies are currently recognised. The female bananaquit is paler in colour than the male, while juveniles are paler and duller, and have a more yellowish eyestripe.

Although in the past the bananaquit has been varyingly classified along with honeycreepers, tanagers and warblers, it is now considered to be the sole member of its own family, the “Coerebidae”. Their song is described as a high-pitched series of thin, rapid, unmusical notes, while the call is a short, high-pitched tsip or seet.

The bananaquit may breed year-round in some areas, with two or three broods each year, or breeding may coincide with the wet season. Two to four eggs are laid and are incubated solely by the female. The eggs hatch after 12 to 13 days. The young leave the nest at two to three weeks of age and individuals have been recorded living up to seven years in the wild.

The Bananaquit is found in a range of habitats, including scrub, lowland tropical forest, woodland, plantations and even in areas of secondary growth. It uses all levels of the forest, and is also common in parks, gardens, hedges and suburban areas.

This species has a wide range throughout the West Indies, the Caribbean, from Southern Mexico south to southern Brazil and northeast Argentina.This species is not known to face any major threats at present and is currently considered “of least concerned”.

Photos of the Bananaquit were taken at Museu mello leitao, Santa Teresa - Espirito Santo.