Caribbean elaenia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Caribbean elaenia |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Elaenia
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| Species: |
martinica
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| Subspecies | |
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See text |
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| Synonyms | |
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Muscicapa martinica Linnaeus, 1766 |
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The Caribbean elaenia (Elaenia martinica) is a small, active bird. It belongs to the Tyrannidae family, which are often called flycatchers. You can find this bird living in the West Indies (a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea) and some parts of Central America.
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About the Caribbean Elaenia
The Caribbean elaenia is a common bird in its home region. It likes to live in different kinds of forests. These include dry forests and moist lowland forests. It can even be found in areas where forests used to be, but have changed a lot. This shows how adaptable the bird is to its surroundings.
Where Does It Live?
This bird makes its home in warm, sunny places. It prefers dry forests and moist lowland forests. These are places with lots of trees and plants. It can also live in areas where people have changed the land, like old forest areas. This means it can survive even if its natural home is not perfect.
Naming the Bird
Have you ever wondered how animals get their names? For the Caribbean elaenia, it's an interesting story! In 1760, a French scientist named Mathurin Jacques Brisson wrote about this bird. He saw a bird from the island of Martinique and gave it a long French name.
Later, in 1766, a famous Swedish scientist named Carl Linnaeus updated his big book about nature, called Systema Naturae. Linnaeus is known for creating the system we use today to name all living things. He gave the Caribbean elaenia its scientific name, Muscicapa martinica. He also mentioned Brisson's earlier work. Today, this bird is placed in a group called Elaenia. This group was named by another Swedish scientist, Carl Jakob Sundevall, in 1836.
Different Kinds of Caribbean Elaenia
Just like people from different places might look a little different, birds of the same species can also have small differences depending on where they live. These slightly different groups are called subspecies. There are seven known subspecies of the Caribbean elaenia:
- Elaenia martinica riisii - Found in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is., Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Netherlands Antilles.
- Elaenia martinica martinica - Lives in the Lesser Antilles.
- Elaenia martinica barbadensis - Found on the island of Barbados.
- Elaenia martinica remota - Lives on the islands of San Andrés and Providencia.
- Elaenia martinica chinchorrensis - Found on Great Cay Island, off eastern Mexico, and nearby small islands.
- Elaenia martinica cinerescens - Lives on islands off Honduras.
- Elaenia martinica caymanensis - Found in the Cayman Islands.
