General

Bananaquit: Small and short-tailed with short, decurved bill. Black above with white underparts. Belly washed with yellow, bold white eye stripe. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is duller.

Range and Habitat

Bananaquit: Common in wooded areas and gardens of the Carribean, Mexico, Central and South America. A rare visitor to southern Florida, most often recorded in gardens containing exotic flowers.

Breeding and Nesting

Bananaquit: Territorial and presumably monogamous. Female builds a messy nest of grasses and plant fibers on edge of a branch. Globe nest is typically 5 - 30 feet above ground in a tree or shrub. Female lays three cream or buff eggs with brown spots. Female incubates for 12 - 13 days, both adults tend to altricial young until fledging at 15 - 18 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Bananaquit: Feeds on a varitey of nectar producing flowers, small insects, fruit, and occasionally tree sap. Will both pollinate flowers and rob nectar by piercing a hole in the base of the flower and sipping without pollinating. Visits syrup and sugar water feeders regularly.

Readily Eats

Sugar Water, Fruit, Flowers

Vocalization

Bananaquit: Call is a "tsip" note. Song varies among subspecies from a high-pitched trill to a series of clicks and ticks, typically "ezeereezee, eyteer, eyteer, sizit, zet."

Similar Species

Bananaquit: No other bird in North America shows this combintation of field marks, particularly the decurved bill with red gape.