Greater Antillean elaenia

The Greater Antillean elaenia (Elaenia fallax) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica.

Greater Antillean elaenia
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Tyrannidae
Genus:	Elaenia
Species:	E. fallax
Binomial name
Elaenia fallax Sclater, PL, 1861
Subspecies
See text

Taxonomy and systematics

The American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee, and the Clements taxonomy assign the Greater Antillean elaenia two subspecies, E. f. fallax (Sclater, 1861) and E. f. cherriei (Cory, 1895). BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats the taxa as separate species, the Large Jamaican Eraenia (E. fallax) and the Hispaniolan elaenia (E. cherriei).

This article follows the one species, two subspecies model.

Description

The Greater Antillean elaenia is 14.5 to 16 cm (5.7 to 6.3 in) long and weighs about 13 to 15 g (0.46 to 0.53 oz). It is a medium-sized elaenia with a slight crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark olive-brown head with white or pale yellowish lores, a faint white or pale yellowish eyering, a faint darker line through the eye, and a thin white strip in the center of the crown that is usually not visible. Their upperparts are dark olive-brown. Their wings are dusky with paler edges on the flight feathers. The tips of their wing coverts are whitish or greenish white and show as two bars on the closed wing. Their tail is grayish or dusky. Their underparts are mostly dull yellow with faint streaks or a wash of dull olive or grayish. Subspecies E. f. cherriei has a pale stone gray breast and a white belly. Both sexes of both subspecies have a dark brown iris and black legs and feet. The nominate subspecies has a black maxilla and a pinkish mandible with a black tip. E. f. cherriei also has a black maxilla but its mandible is mostly black with a pinkish base.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the Greater Antillean elaenia is found on the island of Jamaica. Most are found in the Port Royal Mountains, the Blue Mountains, and the higher parts of St. Andrew Parish. Subspecies E. f. cherriei is found in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti on the island of Hispaniola. In the former country it mostly occurs in the Sierra de Bahoruco, Sierra de Neiba, Cordillera Central, and Los Haitises. In Haiti it mostly occurs in the Massif de la Hotte, Massif de la Selle, and Massif des Montagnes Noires.

The Greater Antillean elaenia occurs in different habitats on the two islands. On Jamaica it is found in the interior and edges of humid lowland and montane forest and in open country with scattered trees. On Hispaniola it mostly is found in pine forest but also inhabits the edges of rainforest and broadleaf woodlands on karst limestone. In elevation it ranges between 500 and 2,000 m (1,600 and 6,600 ft) on Jamaica and between 500 and 2,500 m (1,600 and 8,200 ft) on Hispaniola.

Behavior

Movement

Both subspecies of the Greater Antillean elaenia are considered to be year-round residents. However, on Jamaica the nominate appears to move between breeding at higher elevations and wintering more spread out at lower ones. The Hispaniolan E. f. cherriei might have a tendency to wander as vagrants to other islands. In neither case are the movements conclusively known.

Feeding

The Greater Antillean elaenia is known to feed on insects and fruits but its diet is well known only on Jamaica. It forages singly or in pairs and regularly joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It feeds at all levels of the forest, finding food by gleaning while perched, while briefly hovering, and during short sallies.

Breeding

The Greater Antillean elaenia apparently breeds between May and July on Jamaica and April to July on Hispaniola. Its nest is a cup made of moss and lined with feathers; it can be built low in a bush or high in a tree. On Jamaica the clutch is normally two eggs and on Hispaniola two or three. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The nominate Greater Antillean elaenia's day song is "tseerrr-che-wit-che-wit ... tseerr-che-wit ... che-wit ... che-wit". It also makes "a rather long downslurred plaintive whistle". What could be either a song or a call on Hispaniola is "a fast descending series of c. 15 notes, e.g., whee-ee-ee-ee-ee, or pwee-chi-chi-chiup, see-ere, chewit-chewit". There it makes "a short emphatic wheep!" and "a more gruff rrhee".

Status

The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so has separately assessed the two subspecies of the Greater Antillean elaenia. Both are assessed as being of Least Concern. Neither has a known population size and both are thought to be decreasing. Both are potentially threatened by the effects of climate change on their habitats. The nominate is considered abundant in its apparent higher elevation breeding range. "Some 75% of original forest cover in Jamaica has already been cleared, and the remaining forest is largely second growth; undisturbed forest survives only on high mountain slopes, some of which are protected within Blue Mountain and John Crow National Park, but hunting and habitat destruction continue because of lack of funds for effective protection and management." In Haiti, only 1.5% of the country's original forest remains uncleared, but the species remains common in at least one national park. About 90% of the Dominican Republic's native forest has been cleared. "There are ca. 22 protected areas (with 15 new areas proposed) covering ca. 16% of the land area of the Dominican Republic, but a lack of adequate funding threatens their long-term survival."