Bahama Mockingbird Mimus gundlachii Scientific name definitions

Despite its name, the Bahama Mockingbird is not endemic to the Bahamas, but in fact is also found on the Turks & Caicos Islands, a handful of small islets off the north coast of Cuba, and in a relatively small area of southern Jamaica. Two subspecies are recognized, with Mimus gundlachii hillii endemic to the last-named island. It is broadly similar in plumage to the more familiar Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), which is out-competing the present species in parts of Cuba, but differs in being slightly larger, with browner upperparts including the wings, and neatly streaked underparts. The species inhabits xeromorphic vegetation, often in coastal zones, in Cuba, elsewhere it ranges into other scrubby and wooded habitats, where it generally favors taller vegetation than the Northern Mockingbird. Vagrants of this species have reached southeast Florida, but nonetheless the Bahama Mockingbird is generally considered to be a sedentary resident. It is just one of several species whose scientific names commemorates the extraordinary achievements of the German naturalist Johannes Gundlach, who spent most of his working life on Cuba.