{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Speciesbox | image = Cacicus uropygialis -Panama-8.jpg | image_caption = in Panama | status = LC | image2 = Cacicus microrhynchus - Scarlet-rumped Cacique XC242286.mp3 | image2_caption = song | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2020 |title=''Cacicus uropygialis'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T22733589A138356612 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22733589A138356612.en}}</ref> | genus = Cacicus | species = uropygialis | authority = (Lafresnaye, 1843) | synonyms = | range_map = Cacicus uropygialis map 2.svg }} The '''scarlet-rumped cacique''' ('''''Cacicus uropygialis''''') is a passerine bird species in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. This species has sometimes been split into two species: the scarlet-rumped cacique (''Cacicus microrhynchus'') and the subtropical cacique (''Cacicus uropygialis'').
==Taxonomy== The scarlet-rumped cacique was formally described in 1843 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye based on a specimen collected in Colombia. He coined the binomial name ''Cassicus uropygialis'' where the specific epithet is from Medieval Latin ''uropygium'' meaning "rump".<ref>{{ cite journal | last=de Lafresnaye | first=Frédéric | author-link=Frédéric de Lafresnaye | year=1843 | title=Oiseaux nouveaux de Colombie | language=French | journal=Revue Zoologique | volume=5 | pages=290–292 [290] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2271325 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=uropygialis | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=uropygialis | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=1 May 2026 }}</ref> The scarlet-rumped cacique is now one of ten species placed in the genus ''Cacicus'' that was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède.<ref name=avilist>{{ cite web | author=AviList Core Team | date=2025 | title=AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025 | doi=10.2173/avilist.v2025 | doi-access=free | url=http://www.avilist.org/checklist/v2025/ | access-date=2 May 2026 }}</ref>
Three subspecies are recognised:<ref name=avilist/> * ''C. u. microrhynchus'' (Sclater, PL & Salvin, O, 1865) – far northeastern Honduras to eastern Panama (except Darién Province) * ''C. u. pacificus'' Chapman, FM, 1915 – eastern Panama (Darién Province) to western Colombia and western Ecuador (El Oro) * ''C. u. uropygialis'' Lafresnaye, 1843 – Andes of Colombia to northwestern Venezuela, eastern Ecuador, and southeastern Peru
The taxa ''C. u. pacificus'' and ''C. u. microrhynchus'' are sometimes treated as a separate species with the English name, the scarlet-rumped cacique. The nominate ''C. u. uropygialis'' is then known as the subtropical cacique.<ref>{{ cite book | last1=Ridgely | first1=Robert S. | last2=Tudor | first2=Guy | year=2009 | title=Birds of South America: Passerines | series=Helm Field Guides | location=London | publisher=Christopher Helm | isbn=978-1-408-11342-4 | pages=674-675 }}</ref><ref name=hbw>{{ cite book | last=Fraga | first=R.M. | year=2011 | chapter=Family Icteridae (New World Blackbirds) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=16: Tanagers to New World Blackbirds | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-96553-78-1 | pages=684-807 [748-749] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0016unse/page/748/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref>
==Description== The scarlet-rumped cacique is sexually dimorphic like many Icteridae, though it mainly concerns size in this species. Males are {{convert|23|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long and weigh {{convert|68|g|oz|abbr=on}}, while the female is {{convert|20|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|53|g|oz|abbr=on}}; This cacique is a slim long-winged bird, with a relatively short tail, blue eyes, and a pale yellow pointed bill. It has mainly black plumage, apart from a scarlet patch on the lower back and upper rump. The female is smaller and a duller black than the male, and the juvenile bird has a brownish tone to the plumage and a brownish-orange rump.
The song of these birds is a pleasant ''{{Not a typo|wheee-whee-whee-whee-wheet}}'', but the Pacific cacique has a descending melancholy ''{{Not a typo|wheeo-wheeo-wheeo-wheeo}}'', while ''C. m. microrynchus'' in the narrowest sense has a burry ''{{Not a typo|pleeo}}''; ''C. m. pacificus'' has a sweeter ''{{Not a typo|keeo}}'' or a ''{{Not a typo|shree}}''.<ref name = "j+b99">Jaramillo & Burke (1999)</ref>
==Behaviour== thumb|in Costa Rica Unlike some other caciques they are not usually colonial breeders; like them they have a bag-shaped nest. It is built about {{convert|3.5|–|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} above ground, in a tree which usually also contains an active wasp nest. The bird's nest is {{convert|36|–|64|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long, widens at the base, and is suspended from the end of a branch. The normal clutch is two dark-blotched white eggs. The male will assist in feeding the young, but does not incubate.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|title=Taxonomy of the birds of the world: The complete checklist|page=524|author=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v4V1DwAAQBAJ&dq=scarlet-rumped+subtropical+cacique&pg=PA524}} * {{cite book|title=The Complete Birds of the World: Every Species Illustrated|page=578|author=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywkqEAAAQBAJ&dq=scarlet-rumped+subtropical+cacique&pg=PA578}}
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scarlet-rumped cacique scarlet-rumped cacique Category:Birds of Central America Category:Birds of Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena scarlet-rumped cacique scarlet-rumped cacique scarlet-rumped cacique