Cacicus melanicterus
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The Mexican cacique or yellow-winged cacique (Cassiculus melanicterus) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is found in El Salvador,Guatemala and Mexico.
The Mexican cacique was formally described in 1825 with the binomial Icterus malanicterus, placing it among the New World orioles. The English ornithologist William Swainson erected genus Cassiculus in 1827 for what he believed was a new species. It was later determined that it was the same species as Icterus malanicterus, and because the species is not an oriole it gained its current generic name but retained its original specific epithet. During much of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first genus Cassiculus was merged into Cacicus but DNA studies returned the species to Cassiculus in the 2010s.
The Mexican cacique is the only member of its genus and has no subspecies. Mexican cacique males average about 32 cm (13 in) long and females about 28 cm (11 in). Males weigh an average of about 96 g (3.4 oz) and females 70 g (2.5 oz). Adult males are mostly glossy black and have a long crest on the nape. Their... Wikipedia →
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Mexico · 2023
© yuritziquiroz · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Mexico · 2001
© dbeadle · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Mexico · 2026
© dgwer · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-winged Cacique sighting in Guadalajara on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 172nd most-seen of the 184 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-winged Cacique in Guadalajara on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-winged Cacique sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Guadalajara, in our data
Guadalajara is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Yellow-winged Cacique sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-winged Cacique that you can see in Guadalajara (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Great-tailed Grackle (about 80%), Streak-backed Oriole (about 30%) and Bronzed Cowbird (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-winged Cacique is recorded against all the birds logged in Guadalajara (11 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
