Fox Sparrow

Dives is a genus of two Neotropical birds in the family Icteridae.

Description

The two species look similar, with plumage ranging from brownish black in juveniles to black with iridescence (green, blue, or violet) in adults, slightly more iridescent in males. The bare parts are black and the eyes are dark brown. The upper edge of the bill (the culmen) is curved, not flattened as in many other icterids, and the bill has a slight hook at the tip. The songs are varied and pleasant.

Taxonomy

The Cuban blackbird was previously considered a species, but is now considered in its own genus Ptiloxena.

If the ranges of the melodious blackbird and the northern populations of the scrub blackbird overlapped, they would be indistinguishable in the field apart from voice, and some authorities lump these two species into one; on the other hand some split the scrub blackbird into two species.

This genus is believed to be most closely related to Euphagus and Quiscalus.

Species

It contains two species:

Genus Dives – Cassin, 1867 – two species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Melodious blackbird	Dives dives (Deppe, 1830)	coastal eastern and south-eastern Mexico to Costa Rica	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Scrub blackbird	Dives warczewiczi (Cabanis, 1861)	Ecuador and Peru	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC

Habitat

Both species live in open habitats, including agricultural land, and have adapted well to human disturbance.

References

• Jaramillo, Alvaro; Burke, Peter (1999). New World Blackbirds: the icterids. Princeton University Press. pp. 221–227. ISBN 0-691-00680-6. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
• Peterson, Alan P. (Editor). 1999. Zoological Nomenclature Resource (Zoonomen). Accessed 2007-07-29.