Gorrion de Constanza / Roufus Collared Sparrow

            The Mystery of the Cigua de Constanza / Roufus Collared Sparrow
 
Zonotrichia capensis, or Cigua de Constanza is actually an Emberizid Sparrow, also called American Sparrows, and resembling the Old World or the Sparrows of the Old World.
The name of the genus Zonotrichia refers to the fringes or black areas that it has on its head. (Zonee: fringe, Trichia: hair-feathers for the case-). the name of species capensis, that probably is based on a writing error. because the suffix "ensis" means "that lives in" and is usually awarded to scientific names to indicate the location where a species was sighted or described for the first time. Ex: Buteo jamaicensis or Guaraguao / Red-tailed Hawk, which was described for the first time in Jamaica despite living in almost all of America.
Thus, capensis is a Latinization of the place where the bird sighting and its subsequent description was made. This name is used to designate species associated with the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and by becoming very creative we might think that it is associated with Cape Horn, where this species also lives. apparently it has been a confusion: "capensis" should have been "cayensis" making an allusion to the city of Cayenne, capital of French Guiana in South America; place referred to in the description of this species. Probably when writing the original texts, a "p" slipped in the place of a "and".
 
And the Mystery where is it? Well, precisely because this species that lives so far away is found only in some parts of the Central Cordillera of the Dominican Republic and nowhere else in the West Indies.
SOurce: Pedro Genaro.
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A MYSTERY OF THE HEIGHTS !!! As you explain the mystery that this species is of extensive distribution in Central America and South America, however in the Antilles it does NOT exist in Cuba, neither Jamaica nor Puerto Rico and only inhabits our Hispaniola Island and in a specific place that is the Central Mountain Range , for which reason it is called "Ciguita de Constanza".
 
And it said that it is a mystery of the heights because it is only found in high elevations above 900 meters, up to heights of 2400 meters above sea level.
 
The great thing of the case and to make it more difficult to clarify the mystery is that she is in our country since 1916, when the ornithologist W.L. Abbott sent a specimen of the species to the Smithsonian Institute of Washington D.C and for the first time confirmed the presence of Zonotrichia capensis in our country.
 
Its existence was a great surprise and to this day there is still no adequate explanation of the reason why it lives on our island and not in the other islands of the Caribbean.
 
It was known that the ciguita nested on this island due to the presence of young subjects, but it was not until May 1973 when a first nest was found.
 
Although it had only been found in the Cordillera Central, in the municipality of constanza, for what is called "Ciguita de Constanza", later Annabelle Stockton de Dod documented its presence in the Sierra de Neyba.
 
Anyway, why? and how this species came to our Island and not to Puerto Rico, Cuba or Jamaica is a Mystery.
 
source: Cimarron Mayor (MD.Jose M.Pantaleon

Scientific classification e
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Passerellidae
Genus:Zonotrichia
Species:Z. capensis
Binomial name
Zonotrichia capensis
   

Taken in: Spanish Haiti / Provincia de La Vega / Jarabacoa / Loma De La Sal (show map)

Taken on: March 24, 2018

Tags:

Aves

Birds

Coccyzus longirostris

Cuco lagartero de La Española

Fauna

Hispaniolan lizard cuckoo

Roufus Collared Sparrow

Zonotrichia capensis

pájarobobo

tacot

Endemic Subspecies of the Hispaniola And Associate Island

Subespecie Endemica de la Hispaniola e Islas Adyacentes « less

Sets appears in: • 2018 • sub_Especie_endemica more » • Emberizidae • Passerellidae • Ebano Verde • Residentes • Aves • Fauna • Constanza « less

Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II, f/4.0, 1/200 sec, 500mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Lens:	EF500mm f/4L IS USM
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	500mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	+1/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Manual
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7 (Macintosh)
Show full info

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