# Icterid

Icterids (/ˈɪktərɪd/) or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae (/ɪkˈtɛrɪdi/), of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. The family contains 108 species and is divided into 30 genera. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. The species in the family vary widely in size, shape, behavior, and coloration. The name, meaning "jaundiced ones" (from the prominent yellow feathers of many species) comes from the Ancient Greek ikteros via the Latin ictericus. This group includes the New World blackbirds, New World orioles, the bobolink, meadowlarks, grackles, cowbirds, oropendolas, and caciques.
Despite the similar names, the first groups are only distantly related to the Old World common blackbird (a thrush) or the Old World orioles.
The Icteridae are not to be confused with the Icteriidae, a family created in 2017 and consisting of one species — the yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens).

## Characteristics

Most icterid species live in the tropics, although many species also occur in temperate regions, such as the red-winged blackbird and the long-tailed meadowlark. The highest densities of breeding species are found in Colombia and southern Mexico. They inhabit a range of habitats, including scrub, swamp, forest, and savanna. Temperate species are migratory, with many species that nest in the United States and Canada moving south into Mexico and Central America.
Icterids are variable in size, and often display considerable sexual dimorphism, with brighter coloration and greater size in males being typical. While such dimorphism is widely known in passerines, the sexual dimorphism by size is uniquely extreme in icterids. For example, the male great-tailed grackle is 60% heavier than the female. The smallest icterid species is the orchard oriole, in which the female averages 15 cm in length (6 in) and 18 g (0.040 lb) in weight, while the largest is the Amazonian oropendola, the male of which measures 52 cm (20 in) and weighs about 550 g (1.21 lb). This variation is greater than in any other passerine family (unless the kinglet calyptura belongs with the cotingas, which would then have greater variation). One unusual morphological adaptation shared by the icterids is gaping, where the skull is configured to allow them to open their bills strongly rather than passively, allowing them to force open gaps to obtain otherwise hidden food. Most icterids have rounded tails and lack rictal bristles. They have nine primary feathers and are placed among the nine-primaried oscines.
Icterids have adapted to taking a wide range of foods. Oropendolas and caciques use their gaping motion to open the skins of fruit to obtain the soft insides, and have long bills adapted to the process. Others such as cowbirds and the bobolink have shorter, stubbier bills for crushing seeds. The Jamaican blackbird uses its bill to pry amongst tree bark and epiphytes, and has adopted the evolutionary niche filled elsewhere in the Neotropics by woodcreepers. Orioles drink nectar.
The nesting habits of these birds are also variable, including pendulous woven nests in the oropendolas and orioles. Many icterids are colonial, nesting in colonies of up to 100,000 birds. Some cowbird species engage in brood parasitism; females lay their eggs in the nests of other species, in a similar fashion to some cuckoos.
Some species of icterid have become agricultural pests; for example, red-winged blackbirds in the United States are considered the worst vertebrate pests on some crops, such as rice. The cost of controlling blackbirds in California was $30 per acre in 1994. Not all species have been as successful, and a number of species are threatened with extinction. These include insular forms such as the Jamaican blackbird, yellow-shouldered blackbird, and St Lucia oriole, all threatened by habitat loss; and the tricolored blackbird of California, which is threatened by habitat loss and destruction of nests.

## Folklore

Cacique and oropendola species are called paucar or similar names in Peru. As paucares are considered very intelligent, Native Americans feed the brains to their children to make them fast learners. As the male plays no part in nesting and care of the young, a man who does not work may be called a "male paucar".

## Taxonomy

The family group was introduced in 1825 as a subfamily Icterina by Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors. He placed the subfamily in the starling family Sturnidae.
A phylogenetic analysis of the passerine families by Carl Oliveros and collaborators published in 2019 found that the family Icteridae was sister to the family Icteriidae (containing the yellow breasted chat) and together these two families formed a clade that was sister to the New World warbler family Parulidae.
The genus level cladogram shown below is based on a molecular phylogenetic study by Alexis Powell and collaborators that was published in 2014. The study compared mitochondrial gene sequences. The subfamilies are those that were proposed in 2016 by Van Remsen and collaborators. The numbers of species are taken from the list maintained by Frank Gill, Pamela Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).

## Genera

| Genus | Living Species |
| Xanthocephalus Bonaparte, 1850 | Yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus |
| Dolichonyx Swainson, 1827 | Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus |
| Sturnella Vieillot, 1816 | Western meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta Eastern meadowlark, Sturnella magna Lilian's meadowlark, Sturnella lilianae |
| Leistes Vigors, 1825 | Red-breasted meadowlark, Leistes militaris White-browed meadowlark, Leistes superciliaris Peruvian meadowlark, Leistes bellicosus Long-tailed meadowlark, Leistes loyca Pampas meadowlark, Leistes defilippii |
| Amblycercus Cabanis, 1851 | Yellow-billed cacique, Amblycercus holosericeus |
| Cassiculus Swainson, 1827 | Mexican cacique or yellow-winged cacique, Cassiculus melanicterus |
| Psarocolius Wagler, 1827 | Chestnut-headed oropendola, Psarocolius wagleri Russet-backed oropendola, Psarocolius angustifrons Dusky-green oropendola, Psarocolius atrovirens Crested oropendola, Psarocolius decumanus Green oropendola, Psarocolius viridis Olive oropendola, Psarocolius bifasciatus Montezuma oropendola, Psarocolius montezuma Black oropendola, Psarocolius guatimozinus Baudo oropendola, Psarocolius cassini |
| Cacicus Lacepede, 1799 | Solitary cacique, Cacicus solitarius Golden-winged cacique, Cacicus chrysopterus Selva cacique, Cacicus koepckeae Ecuadorian cacique, Cacicus sclateri Yellow-rumped cacique, Cacicus cela Scarlet-rumped cacique, Cacicus microrhynchus Subtropical cacique, Cacicus uropygialis Mountain cacique, Cacicus chrysonotus Band-tailed oropendola, Cacicus latirostris Casqued oropendola, Cacicus oseryi Red-rumped cacique, Cacicus haemorrhous |
| Icterus Brisson, 1760 | 32 species |
| Nesopsar P.L. Sclater, 1859 | Jamaican blackbird, Nesopsar nigerrimus |
| Agelaius Vieillot, 1816 | Yellow-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius xanthomus Tawny-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius humeralis Tricolored blackbird, Agelaius tricolor Red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus Red-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius assimilis |
| Molothrus Swainson, 1832 | Screaming cowbird, Molothrus rufoaxillaris Giant cowbird, Molothrus oryzivorus Shiny cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis Bronzed cowbird, Molothrus aeneus Bronze-brown cowbird, Molothrus armenti Brown-headed cowbird, Molothrus ater |
| Dives Cassin, 1867 | Scrub blackbird, Dives warczewiczi Melodious blackbird, Dives dives |
| Ptiloxena Chapman, 1892 | Cuban blackbird, Ptiloxena atroviolacea |
| Euphagus Cassin, 1867 | Rusty blackbird, Euphagus carolinus Brewer's blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus |
| Quiscalus Vieillot, 1816 | Common grackle, Quiscalus quiscula Nicaraguan grackle, Quiscalus nicaraguensis Carib grackle, Quiscalus lugubris Greater Antillean grackle, Quiscalus niger Boat-tailed grackle, Quiscalus major Great-tailed grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus † Slender-billed grackle, Quiscalus palustris |
| Hypopyrrhus Bonaparte, 1850 | Red-bellied grackle, Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster |
| Lampropsar Cabanis, 1847 | Velvet-fronted grackle, Lampropsar tanagrinus |
| Gymnomystax Reichenbach, 1850 | Oriole blackbird, Gymnomystax mexicanus |
| Macroagelaius Cassin, 1866 | Colombian mountain grackle, Macroagelaius subalaris Golden-tufted mountain grackle, Macroagelaius imthurni |
| Curaeus PL Sclater, 1862 | Austral blackbird, Curaeus curaeus |
| Amblyramphus Leach, 1814 | Scarlet-headed blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus |
| Anumara Powell et al., 2014 | Forbes's Blackbird, Anumara forbesi |
| Gnorimopsar Richmond, 1908 | Chopi blackbird, Gnorimopsar chopi |
| Oreopsar WL Sclater, 1939 | Bolivian blackbird, Oreopsar bolivianus |
| Agelaioides Cassin, 1866 | Grayish baywing, Agelaioides badius Pale baywing, Agelaioides fringillarius |
| Agelasticus Cabanis, 1851 | Yellow-winged blackbird, Agelasticus thilius Pale-eyed blackbird, Agelasticus xanthophthalmus Unicolored blackbird, Agelasticus cyanopus |
| Chrysomus Swainson, 1837 | Chestnut-capped blackbird, Chrysomus ruficapillus Yellow-hooded blackbird, Chrysomus icterocephalus |
| Xanthopsar Ridgway, 1901 | Saffron-cowled blackbird, Xanthopsar flavus |
| Pseudoleistes P.L. Sclater, 1862 | Brown-and-yellow marshbird, Pseudoleistes virescens Yellow-rumped marshbird, Pseudoleistes guirahuro |
Prehistoric icterid genera that have been described from Pleistocene fossil remains are Pandanaris from Rancho La Brea and Pyelorhamphus from Shelter Cave.