Hispaniolan Mango Anthracothorax dominicus Scientific name definitions

The Hispaniolan Mango and Puerto Rican Mango (Anthracothorax aurulentus) were long considered conspecific under the name Antillean Mango. The American Ornithological Society reevaluated the phenotypic differences between these two taxa, and in 2022 elevated them to full species status as they differed from each other to a similar extent as other species in the genus Anthracothorax (1 Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker (2022). Sixty-third supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds. Ornithology 139:ukac020. Close ). This conclusion mirrors many other recent taxonomic decisions in the Caribbean (e.g., the split of Icterus dominicensis into four species: the Hispaniolan Oriole (Icterus dominicensis), the Bahama Oriole (Icterus northropi), the Cuban Oriole (Icterus melanopsis), and the Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis); 2 Chesser, R.T., Banks, R.C., Barker, F.K., Cicero, C., Dunn, J.L., Kratter, A.W., Lovette, I.J., Rasmussen, P.C., Remsen, J.V., Rising, J.D., Stotz, D.F. and Winker, K. (2010). Fifty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-List of North American Birds. Auk 127(3): 726-744. Close ).

Sadly, very little is known about the Hispaniolan Mango, which is endemic to Hispaniola and it satellite islands. It appears to be somewhat common through much of the island, occupying a variety of habitats from sea level to 2,600 m, including pine forests, broadleaf forests, arid shrubby hillsides, secondary growth (including in urban settings), and shade-coffee plantations (3 Wetmore, A. and Swales, B.H. (1931). The Birds of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. US National Museum Bull. 155. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 483 pp. Close , 4 Woods, C. A., and J. A. Ottenwalder. 1992. The Natural History of Southern Haiti. Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, USA. Close , 5 Wunderle, Jr., J. M., and S. C. Latta (1996). Avian abundance in sun and shade coffee plantations and remnant pine forest in the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. Ornitología Neotropical 7:19–34. Close , 6 Latta, S., C. Rimmer, A. Keith, J. Wiley, H. Raffaele, K. McFarland and E. Fernandez. (2006). Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Close , 7 Exantus, J.-M., D. Beaune, and F. Cézilly (2021). The relevance of urban agroforestry and urban remnant forest for avian diversity in a densely-populated developing country: The case of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. Volume 63. Close ). As is true of most hummingbirds, it feeds on flower nectar and small invertebrates. Hopefully, the dearth of information on this species will stimulate much future study.