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Paul D. Haemig
To cite this version:
Paul D. Haemig. Ecology and Ethnobiology of the Slender-billed Grackle. Journal für Ornithologie
= Journal of Ornithology, Springer Verlag, 2009, 151 (2), pp.391-399. �10.1007/s10336-009-0467-2�.
�hal-00568358�
Ecol ogy and e thnob iology of th e Sl ender-bi lled Grackle Qu iscalus palustri s
Author: Paul D. Haemi g
Departm ent of Nat ural S ci ences Li nnaeus Universit y
391 82 Kalm ar Sweden
E-m ail: paul.haemi g@hik.s e
Abstract A Renaiss ance-era enc ycl opedi a com pil ed b y Fra y Bernardino de Sahagun and hi s res earch group of elit e native schol ars from t he R o yal College of t he Hol y Cros s, Tlatel ol co , Vall e y of M exico , provides new inform ation on t he sl ender -bill ed grackl e (Quis calus palus tris), a bi rd that disappeared befor e modern fiel d st udi es of i t coul d be made. In sixteenth - centur y M exico, thi s grackl e nested i n emergent aquatic vegetation and in towns. It was abundant , went around in flocks, and did great dam age i n t he maize crop. Al though norm all y not eat en b y hum ans , it was exploited for its feat hers and s acrifi ced to t he Azt ec fire god . The sl ender -bil led grackl e inhabit ed bot h the Vall e y of M exico and the Vall e y of Toluca. It was found in m arshes, but the degree to whi ch it was dependent on m ars h habit ats is unknown. Edward Alphonso Gol dm an, who saw living sl ender -bill ed grackl es in the fi eld , declined to call t his bird a m arsh speci ali st . Three records exist of slender -billed grackl es and great-tail ed grackle s (Quiscalus mexicanus) inhabiti ng t he s am e l ocalit y duri ng t he s ame ti me peri od . The aut hor
recommends that searches for this grackl e be expanded to include non -mars h habitat s and areas outside its known hi storical range.
Keywords Sl ender-billed grackl e, Qui scalus pal ustri s, ecology, ethnobi ology, range, habit at , evolut ion, Bernardino de S ahagun
Introdu cti on
Among the man y birds coll ect ed b y E.W. Nelson and E.A. Goldman duri ng thei r epi c explorations of M exico was a slim, m edi um -sized grackle from the Mes a C entral. Ei ght indi viduals of t his endemic spe ci es, the s lender -bill ed grackl e (Quis calus palustr is), were t aken b y Gol dm an near Le rma on the 5t h of J ul y 1904 (Dickerman 1965).
Nel son and Gol dm an, however, were not t he fi rst res earchers t o fi nd this bird. On the contrary, the y were among t he las t, f or s oon aft er thei r
encount er wit h it the slender -bill disappeared and man y ornithologi sts now beli eve it to be extinct (Brooks 2000). Because thi s bi rd vani shed before studi es could be m ade, alm ost not hing toda y is known of its habits and ecology. What li ttle is known consist s of a few published obs ervations (e.g.
Swai nson 1827, 1838) and much specul ati on (e.g. Hard y 1967).
Yet , t here is at l east one source of inform ation about t he sl ender -bi lled grackl e that rem ains unt apped b y res earchers. That source is t he General History of the Thi ngs of N ew Spai n (hereafter call ed the Gener al Hi stor y), a renaiss ance-era enc yclopedia compi led in the 16t h cent ur y b y Fra y Bernardino de S ahagun and his res earch group of elit e nati ve s cholars from the Ro yal College of t he Hol y Cros s in Tl at elol co (now part of M exico Cit y).
The Gener al Hist or y pres erves i nform ati on on a wide vari et y of t opi cs , incl uding fragments of i ndi genous knowl edge about M exican birds. Som e of this i nform ati on dates fro m the pre -His panic peri od ( Haemi g 1978). The slender -bill ed grackl e, known b y the nam es t zánatl and acatzánatl (M artin del Campo 1940; Sahagun B de ([1577] 1963) , is mentioned in several part s of the General History. It was such a comm on and famil iar bird to the anci ent
Mexicans that the y used it as a yardsti ck to des cribe the size s of other bi rd speci es (S ahagun B de ([1577] 1963).
A cop y of t he Gener al Hi stor y that S ahagun must have consi dered as final and compl et e, resi des toda y in the coll ect ion of the Bibliot eca Medicea - Lorenzi ano in Florence, It al y (S ahagun [1577] 1979) . This manus cri pt, known as the Flor ent ine Codex, i s t he copy of the General His tory mos t widel y us ed b y res earchers and t he one which I will cit e and quot e here.
In t he present stud y, I integrat e Mexican i ndi gen ous knowl edge from t he General Hist or y with that of m odern ornit hological lit erature t o produce a cri tical revi ew of slender -bill ed grackle ecol og y and ethnobiol ogy. In t he appendix, I conduct new anal ys es of t he des cripti ons of grackles in t he General Hi st or y and confi rm that t he aforem entioned ident ifi cations are correct.
Food h abits , abundance and beh avior
The sl ender -bill ed grackl e was an omnivore. It pre yed “especi all y upon
maize, worms, and the small insects which fly” (Sahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50) . Li ke ot her mem bers of t he genus Quiscal us, slender -bi lls occurred “in fl ocks ” (Swainson 1827, p. 437). “There are many, and they walk in flocks” (S ahagun [1577] 1988, p. 711).
Habitats
There are records of slender -bill ed grackl es from 3 habitats: wetl a nds, culti vated pl ots and hum an sett lem ents.
Wet lands: Swainson (1827, p. 437) wrote that the sl ender-bill ed grackl e inhabited “marshes and borders of the lakes.” Emergent aquatic ve getation was us ed for nesti ng: “The y dwell am ong the re eds; am ong the re eds t he y hat ch ” (S ahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50).
Cultivat ed plots: “The y eat maize. The y do great dam age i n it ” (Sahagun [1577] 1988, p. 711).
Human settl ement s: During the s ixteenth centur y, both t he sl ender -bill ed grackl e and the great -tailed grackl e (Quis cal us mexi canus) were report ed to breed “in the t owns” of New Spain (S ahagun [1577] 1988, p. 690).
Comments: It is frequentl y ass ert ed that the sl ender -bill ed grackl e was so speci aliz ed i n it s habitat preferences t hat it was rest ri cted t o m arshes (e. g.
Pa ynt er 1968 ). C hri stensen ( 2000) has even clai med that , “Historicall y, Q.
palus tris was confi ned to a singl e marsh.”
The idea t hat pal ustr is was a marsh s peci alist m a y be correct , but I have not been able to fi nd an y docum ent ation for i t. I am t herefo re curious t o know how the i nnocent st atem ents of 19t h cent ur y col lect ors that pal ustris
“inhabited marshes” were transformed into the extreme view that this species was “rest ri ct ed t o m arshes .” It is as t hough a grackl e has been changed into a rai l.
All s peci es of the grackl e genus Qui scalus have been report ed to i nhabit marshes and t o nest i n emergent aquati c veget ation (J armil lo and Burke 1999 ; J ohnson and P eer 2001 ). However, the y var y greatl y i n t he degree to which the y do so. S om e (e.g. Q. maj or, Q. ni caraguensi s) seem more tied to marshes than others (e.g. Q. mexi canus, Q. quiscul a). Yet, even the l att er
speci es show som e attract ion to m arshes and at tim es nest i n em ergent aquati c veget ati on li ke the form er speci es. In addition, t he species that ass ociat e most strongl y with m arshes and em ergent aquati c vegetat ion sometim es nest awa y from m ars hes, just li ke the speci es less a ssoci at ed with marshes. Thus, whil e t he various Quiscalus species all as soci at e with m arshes , the y can be placed along a grad i ent of m arsh dependence, with the m ore dependent
speci es toward one end and the l es s dependent s peci es toward the ot her end.
Where al ong thi s gradient s houl d we pl ace t he sl ender -bill ed grackl e? Were marshes this bi rd’s onl y habitat, or simpl y its last-known refuge before
disappearance? I don’t think we have enough inform ation at t his point to ans wer thes e questions. Thos e who argue for m ars h speci alization and
restri cti on are ass ert ing t hat thi s s peci es was the m ost extrem e m ember of i ts genus. Since we know so littl e about pal ustris, is such an ass umption
reasonabl e? Even the Nicaraguan grackl e (Q. nicaraguensi s) and boat -t ail ed grackl e (Q. major) use habit ats other than m ars hes (Post et al . 1996, Stil es and Skut ch 1989 ; J aramill o and Burke 1999 ).
The t exts of th e General Hi story cit ed above report that the sl ender-bill ed grackl e nest ed not onl y i n m arshes, but also i n to wns and foraged in
culti vated pl ots. These obs ervations do not refut e t he h ypot hesis that sl ender - bills were m arsh speci alists , si nce man y t owns and cultivat ed plots of ancient Mexico were built i n marshes . Furt herm ore, we do not know i f sl ender -bill s increased thei r breeding s uccess b y nesti ng in towns, or s urvived better b y feeding in cultivat ed plot s . It is al wa ys possibl e that t hese other habit ats were popul ati on sinks.
Neverthel es s, t he 16t h Cent ur y obs ervati ons of s lender -bi lled grackl es nest ing in t owns and foraging i n culti vated plots s ugges t an alt ernate h ypot hesis: that t his speci es was not as dependent on m arshes as cur rentl y ass umed and that it had adapted to a cert ain degree to the urban and
agri cultural environment s of pre -His pani c and earl y Spanis h Mexico. And if this were t rue, it would not be surprisi ng, since all of its congeners s eem t o prosper and i ncreas e with som e forms of urban and agri cult ural developm ent (J armi llo and Burke 1999; Wehtj e 2003). Furt herm ore, the bird s eem s t o have evolved on t he M es a Cent ral and lived in s ympat r y t here with various pre - Hispani c hum an cult ures for t housands of years, and so m a y have had ampl e time to adapt as civi l ization graduall y evolved in the M es oamerican
Hi ghl ands.
It m a y be si gni fi cant that E.A. Goldm an, who s aw living s lender -bi lled grackl es near Lerm a, decli ned t o cal l thi s bird a m arsh s peci ali st. In his list of Mexic an bi rds of t he Upper Aus tral Li fe Zone, Goldm an (1951) des cri bed the habit at and range of the rail Rallus longirostris t enui rost ri s as “mars hes in high valleys of state of Mexico.” To those who believe the slender -billed grackl e was a m arsh speci alist , t his woul d also seem like a perfect des cript ion of Qui scalus pal ustr i s. Yet, when Goldm an added t he sl ender -bill ed grackle to the sam e list, he did not writ e a simil ar description for it. He simpl y wrot e
“México” [i.e. the state of Mexico] without mentioni ng any habitat. Since Swai nson (1827) had previ ous l y described the habit ats of the slender -bill ed grackl e as “marshes and borders of the lakes,” we must ask what led Goldman to refrai n from doing the sam e. Had Goldman, duri ng his Mex ican fi eldwork,
obs er ved that the range of habit ats us ed by the s lender -bi lled grackl e was broader t han Swai ns on’s coll ector Willi am Bullock had not ed?
Interaction s with h u mans
The sl ender -bill ed grackl e interact ed in m an y wa ys with the human popul ati on that s hared its envi ro nm ent. We have al read y m entioned that slender -bill s at e m ai ze and did great dam age i n it. However, t hei r relat ionship with hum ans was complex, for t he l att er also expl oit ed t hese birds .
The Azt ecs us ed t he feat hers of the slender -bi lled grackl e to make t h e basi c black outl ines seen i n thei r featherwork (Sahagun [1577] 1959, p. 95). One speci fi c exampl e mentioned in the General Hi stor y was t he bl ue parrot feather shirt with “wavy lines in grackle feathers” (Sahagun [1577] 1959, p.
89).
The Azt ecs als o s acrifi ced sl ender -bill ed grackl es i n rel i gious rituals . During the m onth of Iz calli, the Aztecs captured m an y kinds of animal s from thei r l ocal mars hes and at dawn threw t hem into ri tual fires as sacri fi ces t o thei r fi re god Xiuhtecutli . An account of t h ese ceremonies from Tl at elol co (Sahagun [1577] 1988, pp. 173) , during t he rei gn of Aztec Em peror
Mont ezum a II (1502 -1520) (S ahagun [1577] 1981, p. 164), specificall y menti ons bot h s lender -bill ed grackl es and great -tai led grackl es (Quis cal us mexi canus) bei ng t hrown into the rit ual fi res (Sahagun [1577] 1981, p. 159 - 160):
“Upon the tenth day of Izcalli, tamales stuffed with greens were eaten. It was maintained, it was said: “Our father, the fire, roasteth [food] for himself.” They set up his image; it was onl y a framework
[of wood] which they m ade. The y gave i t a mask. His m as k was made of green stone horizont all y st riped with turquois e. It was ver y awesom e; m uch did it gl eam; it was as i f it s hone; it cast much brilli ance.
“And they fitted upon its head a quetzal feather crown, quite narrow at the bott om , l arge enough t o fit around t he head. The quetzal feathers were outspread. And there were two head -fi re - drill s; the y became as his horns, t he y were on t wo sides. And the head -fire-drills bot h had quetz al feat her vas es. And to t he bas e of the quetzal feather crown was s ewn yel low hai r. Ver y even was t he head trim ming; ver y even was t he hai r cut . His l ordl y hair fell to his l oins . Ver y evenl y was his head t rim med, hi s hai r cut . And when t he y put i t on h im, it was veril y li ke his [own] hai r.
“And they dressed him in a cape of quetzal feathers, replete with quetzal feathers. Ver y far did it l ie dragging; it was draggi ng a great deal on t he ground. The wind penet rat ed it; it was as i f i t kept rai sing it u p; it was as i f it gl itt ered, it was as if it gleam ed.
“And his mat was an ocelot skin; the ocelot skin mat lay with its paws extended ; i n t he s am e wa y it s head la y f ace down. And this [image of] Xiuht ecut li was before a brazi er. At mi dni ght [the pri est]
used the fi re drill [to make a fi re]. And when a fl am e fel l, thereupon he bl ew upon i t; t hen he m ade the fi re.
“And when the fire had been made, when it was dawn, when it grew bri ght on the l and, t hen t here ranged themselves, there came first t he youths , the small bo ys; the y were giving the old men the
snakes whi ch t he y had caught . The old m en were spread about taki ng t hem from [the bo ys]. The y were spread about casti ng t hem into t he fire. And ever yt hi ng, what ever an yone had captured – all the bi rds , acatz ánatl [slender-bill ed grackle ], t eotz ánatl [ great - tail ed grackl e], acatechi chi ctli [pos sibl y pied -bil led grebe
Podil ymbus podi ceps], all the various birds, and s al am anders, large lizards, long -t ail ed li zards, t hi ck dark fi sh, thi ck white fish, sm all whit e fis h, s hrimps , frogs , dragonfl y l arvae – all of t hem the y were spread about casting into the fire.”
The Spani sh t ext of t he Florentine C odex adds that the grackl es and other anim als sacri fi ced i n this account were not bought in the m arket , but were hunt ed the da y before b y t he youths and small bo ys m enti oned in t he text (Sahagun [1577] 1988, pp. 171 -172). A 16t h centur y m ap of the Val le y of Mexico m ade at t he Ro yal Col lege of the Hol y C ros s in Tl at el olco, and now pres erved i n the Uppsal a Uni versit y Li b rar y, Sweden ( Leon -Portill a and Aguil era 1986 ), illus trates s everal indi genous techniques used to coll ect birds in the wetl ands of Lake Texcoco . C anoes were emplo yed wit h two people in each canoe, one t o paddle the other to t hrow a m ulti -pronged s pear wi t h t he hel p of a s pear -thrower, atl atl (Li nne 1937). Bl owguns that shot cl a y pell ets and various ki nds of bird nets were al so used ext ensi vel y and s ecured
enormous num bers of bi rds (Li nne 1937, 1939, 1940, 1948 ab ).
Since t he grackles were collect ed a m axim um of 24 -hour hours before t he sacri fi ce, i t s eems doubtful t hat the y were collect ed in the Vall e y of Toluca . To do so, t he youths and sm all bo ys woul d have needed to cross a sm all
mount ain range , t he Sierra de Las C ruces (see Garcia -P alom o et al. 2008 for a
des cripti on of thi s barri er ). It t herefore seems more likel y that t he children coll ect ed t he grackles som ewhere i n t he Val le y of M exico , perhaps in or near Tlat el olco. The other s peci es of anim als listed as sacrificed are also known to have li ved t here.
The extraordinar y detail in t he Tl at elol co record s uggest s that it was obt ained from native consul tants t hat possessed pi ct ori al manuscripts and/or first-hand experi ence with the events bei ng recorded. Si nce S ahagun’s research group collect ed t his acc ount in Tlat el olco during the years 1561- 1565, it is poss ibl e t hat som e of the elders the y consulted t here had, i n thei r youth, been the chil dren in the account (S ahagun 1561 -1565).
The account does not sa y i f t he grackl es sacri fi ced were st ill alive when t he y were t hrown i nto the fire. Accounts of ot her Aztec fire sacri fi ces m ention humans as the s acri fi cial offeri ngs and reveal that the y were cast alive into t he fire. For exampl e, Duran ([1581] 1964, pp.
94, 245), call ed the fire s acri fi ce “the m ost t e rribl e and horrendous sacri fi ce that can be imagi ned . A great bonfi re was m ade in a l arge brazier dug in the ground…Into this great mass of embers men were thrown alive. Before t he y expi red, thei r hearts were t orn out of t heir bodi es and offered to the go d.”
Tlat el olco was locat ed on an isl and in La ke Texcoco, the l argest bod y of wat er i n the Vall e y of M exico. Em ergent aquati c vegetat ion was abundant in the area, and even grew ext ensi vel y withi n the cit y its el f. Thi s veget ation, whi ch t ypi call y provides food, s helter and nest sit es for m ars h -dwelling Ict eridae (Ori ans 1980 ) is oft en m enti oned in histori cal accounts of that period. According t o Duran ([1581] 1964), reeds and rushes lined the
num erous canals of Tlat el olco (p. 159), grew around the i sland ( p.33) and also alongside the causewa ys connecting t he isl and to the m ainland (p. 313).
Tenochtitl an, t he capital of the Aztecs , was l ocat ed on the same i sland as Tlat el olco. In 1473, the peopl e of Tl at elolco (hereaft er call ed Tlatel ol ca) lost a civil war t he y fought against Tenochtitl an (Duran ([1581] 1964 , p. 159 ).
Aft er the fi nal battl e, survi ving Tlat el olca jum ped into t he canals of t hei r cit y and hi d among t he reeds to avoid being sl ain b y the warriers of Tenochtitl an.
To avoid further bloodshed, t h e leaders of Tlat el olco s urrendered and a peace was quickl y arranged . However, before t he warriors of Tenochtitl an would permit the Tlat el olca hidi ng i n t he reeds t o com e ashore, the y humili at ed them b y forcing t hem to im itate the vocalizations of sl ender -billed grackl es and ot her m arsh -dwelling birds such as bl ackbi rds , ducks and gees e (Duran [1581] 1990 , p.150). This account mentions sl ender -bill ed grackl es in a wa y whi ch suggests t hat t he s e birds were fami liar and well -known inhabit ant s of the area.
Did peopl e of Azt ec Mexico and Spanis h Mexico ever hunt t he slender - billed grackl e for food? Possibl y, but the t exts of t he Gener al His tor y
suggest that t his medium -s ized grackle was norm all y not eat en: “The y are not good to eat” (Sahagun [1577] 1988, p. 710 ), “They are not eaten” (Sahagun [1577] 1988, p. 711).
Geographic Di strib ution
There are published records of t he sl ender-bill ed grackl e from onl y two vall e ys:
(1) Vall ey of Mexico (2,220 m eters above sea l evel ).
- Tlat el olco (Lake Texcoco), 1502 -1520, GC L (S ahagun [1577] 1981, p.
159 -164; 1988, pp. 171 -173; This account is quot ed in t he pr evious section of t he present paper).
- Vall e y of M exico, 1787 -1803 , P (Navarro -Si güenz a et al . 2007).
- “Marshes and borders of t he l akes round M exico .” GC L (Swains on 1827) The term “Mexico” in this and the following record most likely means Mexi co Ci t y, (s ee Bull ock 1824; P et ers on 1998).
- “M arshes adj oini ng Mexico” GCP (S wai nson 1838).
(2) Vall ey of Toluca (2,400 m eters above sea l evel ).
- Lerm a, 1904, GCP (Di ckerm an 1965).
- S an Mat eo At enco , 1910, GCP (Di ckerm an 1965).
Abbrevi ations: G CP = Grackle coll ect ed and preserved; G C L = Grackl e coll ect ed but lost (or destro yed ); P = P ai nting made from coll ected grackl e.
In com pili ng t he above list of records , I cited onl y t hos e where a sl ender - billed grackl e was actuall y coll ect ed. The Tlat el olco record fulfill s the requi rements for pl acement on t his li st because sl ender -bill ed grackl es were coll ect ed, held in t he hand and i denti fied before being cast i nt o the fi re. This record is thus analogous t o t hat of S wai nson (1828) where a specimen of
palus tris was collect ed but then l ost (Hel lma yr 1937). W hile such records are obviousl y not as useful as t hose where specimens are preserved for future
reference, the y are n evertheless superior to si ght records where errors in identificati on frequentl y occur (Phi llips 1986, pp. xxiii -xxxii).
Doubtful R ecords
It is possible that Al fonso L. Herrera saw slender -bill ed grackles at
Xochimilco (Valley of Mexico) in the 1880’s. I have not included his rec ord on the above l ist, however, because there are doubts about the speci es
identificati on. Herrera (1888) , with assist ance from the hi ghl y-res pect ed Fernando Ferrari P erez, ori ginall y identi fied the bi rds s een in Xochimil co as great-t ail ed grackles. In a l at er paper, however, Herrera (1890) changed t he identific ati on t o sl ender -bill ed grackl es because “according t o the Bi ologia [Cent rali -Ameri cana] ” they were not mexicanus but pal ustri s (Herrera 1990).
Since Herrera coll ect ed no grackl es and appeared t o have changed the identificati on s impl y on t he authori t y of t he dis credited Biologia C ent rali - Ameri cana, it is uncert ai n whether the bi rds he s aw at Xochi milco were slender -bill ed grackl es, great -t ail ed grackles or both s peci es . In his s econd paper, Herrera (1890) does not st at e whet her he obs erved the diagnos tic
charact ers of palustr is in the Xochimil co grackl es , and his own words s ugg est that he hi ms elf doubt ed the revis ed i denti ficati on. Twenti et h centur y
investi gat ors found mexi canus rather than pal ustr is at Xochi milco (Di ckerman 1965, Ruiz 1977, 1981, R uiz and Escal ante 1978 ), suggesti ng that mexicanus could have been t h e grackl e Herrera observed t here .
Slender -bill ed grackles and great-tai led grackl es
There are at l east t h ree records of sl ender -bill ed grackles and great -t ail ed grackl es li ving in the s am e area during t he sam e peri od of ti me. The fi rst of thes e is t he record from Tl at elol co (1502 -1520) t hat we have alread y
discussed (S ahagun [ 1577] 1981, p. 159 -164; 1988, pp . 171-173).
The second record is dated approxim atel y three centuri es lat er , near the clos e of the S panish Coloni al P eriod . During the years 1787 -1803, the Royal Botanical Expedition to N ew Spai n found both sl ender -bill ed grackles and great-t ail ed grackles living in the Val le y of Mexico (Navarro-Sigüenza et al.
2007).
The thi rd record com es from the t wenti eth cent ur y. In December 1910, W.W. Brown coll ect ed specimens of bot h the sl ender -bill ed grackl e and the great-t ail ed grackle at S an M ateo Atenco, Vall e y of Toluca (MVZ -56999, MC Z-57000). This t hird record is t he bes t of all becaus e it is docum ent ed with pres erved speci mens coll ected onl y two da ys apart.
Evolution: Sis ter Li neage Divergen cies
Of all its congeners, the sl ender-bill ed grackl e is mos t clos el y rel ated t o the western clade of the great -t ail ed grackle (Powell et. al . 2008). This clade, whi ch corresponds to the subspeci es nel soni and grays oni, is found west of the Sierra M adre Occident al , from Sinal oa nort hwards (P owell et . al. 2008) and has, in the past cent ur y, col oniz ed parts of Arizona, C ali forni a and Baja Cali forni a (Wehtj e 2003 ).
Indi vidual s of palust ris, nel soni and graysoni are simi lar i n bod y size (Ridgwa y 1902), and are decidedl y sm all er than mexi canus, the race of the
east er n-cl ade o f great-t ail ed grackl es that was i ntroduced into the V all e y of Mexico b y Azt ec Em peror Auitzotl (Haemi g 1978; DaCosta et al . 2008 ; Powell et al. 2008 ). Neverthel es s, palust ris is qui te dist inct geneti call y from the west ern cl ade , and its divergence from th e l att er is es tim ated to have occurred approximat el y 1.2 milli on years ago (Powel l et al. 2008).
Status and Recommendations
It has been approximat el y a cent ur y si nce ornithologi sts last encount ered the slender -bill ed grackl e. The lack of recent records has l ed man y to conclude that this speci es i s now extinct (A.O.U. 1998, Pet erson 1998; Powell et al.
2008). I recommend (1) t hat field guides illust rat e the sl ender-bill ed grackl e and des cribe its di agnosti c charact ers, and (2) that searches for this bird be expanded t o incl ude non -mars h habitats and areas outs ide its known hi stori cal range.
Zus ammenfassung
Ökologie und Ethnobiologie der Schlankschnabelgrackel (Quiscalus palustris)
In einer Enzyklopädie aus der Renaissance, zusammengestellt von Fray Bernardino de Sahagun und seinen einheimischen wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeitern der Königlichen Schule von Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco, Mexiko, wurden neue Informationen über die
Schlankschnabelgrackel (Quiscalus palustris) gefunden, ein Vogel der ausstarb, bevor moderne Feldstudien stattfinden konnten. Im Mexiko des 16. Jahrhunderts nistete diese Grackel in Ufervegetation und in Städten. Es war ein häufiger Vogel der in Schwärmen vorkam und als Maisschädling bekannt war. Obwohl normalerweise nicht von Menschen als Nahrung genutzt, wurde die Schlankschnabelgrackel für ihre Federn und als Opfer für den Feuergott der Azteken gejagt. Diese Art bewohnte sowohl das Mexikanische Becken als auch
das Toluca Tal. Obwohl sie in Sumpfgebieten gefunden wurde, ist der Grad der Abhängigkeit von diesem Habitat unbekannt. Edward Alphonso Goldman, der lebende
Schlankschnabelgrackel beobachtet hat, lehnte eine Einordnung der Art als
Sumpfgebietspezialist ab. Es gibt drei Beobachtungen von Schlankschnabelgrackeln und Dohlengrackeln, die zeitgleich am selben Ort gesehen wurden. Der Autor schlägt vor, beim Suchen nach dieser Grackel auch Nicht-Sumpfgebiete und Gebiete außerhalb der historisch bekannten zu berücksichtigen.
Ackn owledgments The following i nstitutions pres erve ori ginal m an us cri pts, lett ers and grackle s pecim ens that I us ed in m y res earch: Bibl i oteca M edi cea - Lorenzi ano, Fl orence, It al y; Bi bliot ecas de l a R eal Academi a de l a Hist ori a y del Real P al acio, M adrid, Spai n; Uppsal a Universit ets Bibli ot ek, S weden;
Mus eum of Com parat ive Zoology (MC Z) Harvard Uni versit y; Unit ed Stat es Nat ional Mus eum (USNM), Smit hso ni an Institut ion Archives (S IA).
Correspondence and convers ati ons wit h t he fol lowing individuals was helpful:
Art hur J .O. Anderson, All an R . Phil lips, Robert W. Dickerm an , Dwain W.
Warner, Thomas R. Howell , J am es Lockhart, J ames R. Nort hern, P at ri cia Escal ant e, Una C anger, Adol fo G. Navarro-Si güenza . M arc Ei singer
generousl y sent m e a free cop y of his three -volume index to the Flor enti ne Codex, whi ch hel ped me fi nd pass age s dealing with the sl ender -bill ed grackl e.
Ref eren ces
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Pimas. Uni versit y of Arizona Pres s, Tucson
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Ameri can R es earch, Sant a Fe
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mexi canus Gm elin) i n Nort h Ameri ca si nce 1880. J ournal of Biogeograph y 30:1593 -1607
Appendi x: Iden tifi cation of grackl e speci es
Before looking at grackl e nam es , a few rem arks need to be m ade abou t fol k taxonom y. Vernacul ar bi rd names, l ike birds thems elves , var y geographi call y and also change over time. It is t herefore a mist ake t o assume that a bi rd nam e us ed i n one area will be used for the sam e s peci es in another area , or that a nam e used tod a y will correspond exactl y wit h t he nam e of the s am e bird speci es 400 years ago.
Ornithologi sts l iving in North Am erica are accustom ed to the AOU (1998) desi gnating a s ingl e official common nam e for each bi rd speci es. To such peopl e, it m a y come as a surprise, dis com fort and even dist res s to learn t hat, in some other cult ures, more t han one name m a y be used for t he sam e species of bird. R ea (2007) calls t hese alternat e nam es fol k s ynonyms and gives m an y
exampl es from his fi eldwork am ong the northe rn P ima , a Uto -Aztecan speaki ng group in Arizona.
Over-different iat ed nam es al so occur, where, for exampl e, m al es and fem al es , di fferent age groups or popul ati ons nesting in di fferent habit ats ma y be given separat e names (R ea 2007). Under -di fferenti at ed nam es a ls o occur where one or m ore s peci es are lum ped toget her li ke a genus. Becaus e one of the purposes of t he General Hist or y was to coll ect and pres erve Azt ec
vocabul ar y (Sahagun [1577] 1982, Edm onson 1974), it is no s urpris e t hat the Florenti ne Codex i ncludes fol k s ynon ym s as well as over and under -
differenti at ed nam es. Fortunat el y for us, the des cri ptions i n the Aztec and Spani sh texts of the Flor enti ne Codex are detail ed enough to perm it us to det ermine whi ch grackl e s peci es correspond t o whi ch names.
In t he Spani sh t ext of the Florentine C odex, t wo species of grackl es are menti oned: tz ánat l and t eot zánatl (Sahagun [1577] 1988, pp. 710 -711). W e know that thes e t wo birds are grackl es, rather t han ot her Ict eri ds s uch as blackbirds, because Sahagun s a ys that the respl ende nt q uetzal (Phar omachrus mocci nno) has a t ail “of the form and compositi on of the birds call ed tzánatl or t eotzánatl that nes t in t he towns” (S ahagun [1577] 1988, p. 690). He further des cribes t he tail of t he teotzánatl as being “long and s cul ptured”
(Sahagun [1577] 1988, p. 710) and “streaked” i.e. elongated (Sahagun [1577]
1963, p. 50).
The above des cri ption of the quetzal’s t ai l ma y at fi rst seem odd to us , becaus e we t end to focus on the spectacular t ail -st ream er s t hat are such a distin cti ve feature of this species. However, the General History i s not referring t o these long feathers, nor even the other green feat hers . It is
referring i nst ead t o t he quetzal ’s bl ack t ail feathers , whi ch res embl e t he grackles’ tail feathers in that they are elongated (Table 1) and black: “The tail of thi s one [the quetz al] i s bl ac k, dar k …T he t ai l feat hers are st reaked ” (Sahagun [1577] 1963, p. 19) .
Why would the Aztec focus on the black tail feathers instead of t he green feat hers that cover t hem and hi de m ost of the bl ack from view? Perhaps t he ans wer is t hat the Az tecs regul arl y plu cked the green feat hers of capti ve quetzals (Di az del C astill o [1570] 1956). This pl ucking was probabl y s till being done when Sahagun’s research group collected data for the General History, for we are t old t hat the Aztecs at that tim e still did featherwork wit h quetzal plum es (S ahagun [1577] 1959, p. 92). C ons equentl y, on the quetzals plucked for feat hers , more of the black t ail feathers and l ess of the green feat hers ma y hav e been visi ble . One can also im agi ne that t he quetzal ’s long green t ail -st ream ers were l ess frequentl y seen at their full -l engt h, since the y were pl ucked.
The tz ánatl is des cri bed as bei ng t he s am e siz e as the respl endent q uetz al (Pharomachrus moci nno) (Sahagun [1577] 1963, p. 19), whil e the teotzánatl is the s ize of the plai n c hachal aca (Ort ali s vetula) (Sahagun [1577] 1963, p.
53). S ee Tables 1 and 2.
The fact t hat the tzánatl i s si gni fi cantl y small er than the teot zánat l m eans that thes e t wo grackl es are either di fferent species or different sexes of t he sam e speci es . Wit h regards to the l att er i dea, one finds i n s ome parts of Mes oam eri ca toda y t hat mal e and female great -t ail ed grackles are call ed different nam es. For exam ple, i n Guatem al a m al e great -t ail ed grackl es are called “clarineros” and females “sanates” (Skutch 1954), while in Campeche,
the male is called “zocao” and the female “cahuix” (Santamaria 1992). The Aztec t ext of t he Fl orent ine Codex specificall y sa ys t hat the t eotz ánatl is the mal e, but includes a des cripti on of the femal e with it: “The ver y bl ack one, ver y curved of bill, gl ist ening, is t he cockerel and is call ed teotzánatl. The one that i s not ver y black, b ut a lit tle soot y, is t he hen” (Sahagun [1577]
1963, p. 50).
I concl ude t hat the tz ánatl of the General History is not the femal e of t he teot zánatl becaus e t he col ors and morphol ogy described for these t wo bi rds are di fferent. The tz ánatl is “bl ack,” whi le t he fem al e of the t eotz ánatl is
“not very black, but a little sooty” (Sahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50). In addition, as m entioned above, the tzánatl, like the t eotz ánatl, i s s aid to ha ve an
elongated t ail . Fem al e g rackles do not possess the long tail s of m al e grackl es (Ridgwa y 1902), so it is hard to imagi ne how the fem al e b y it s el f could fit the des cript ion of the Tzánatl.
One ot her cl ue is provided b y t he Fl orenti ne C odex: The bill of the
teot zánatl i s des cribed as being more curved than that of the t zánat l (S ahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50).
Martin del C ampo (1940) identifi ed the tz ánatl as Quis cal us palustr is, and the teotzánatl as Qui scal us mexi canus. I agree wit h M artin del Cam po’s identificati ons of these t wo speci es. To me, the identificati on of the teot zánatl as Qui scal us mexi canus seems indis put abl e, since an ext ensi ve des cripti on of the t eotzánatl i s gi ven i n t he Florentine C odex whi ch mat ches mexi canus in ever y wa y incl uding col or, size (s ee Tables 1 and 2), elongat ed tail, more curved bill and habits (S ahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50). In addition, this bird is said to have be en int roduced from C uextlan and Totonacapan, and
the same race of mexicanus that occurs there toda y (Q. m. mexicanus) is also found i n t he Vall e y of Mexico (Haemi g 1978).
The ident ifi cation of the tz ánatl as Q. pal ustris also seem s ri ght to me. As menti oned above, the tz ánatl was said to be the s am e siz e as a respl endant quetzal. The tz ánat l was t hus too l arge t o be one of t he other bl ackbi rds of the Vall e y of M exico , yet t oo small to be a great -t ail ed grackl e (Tabl e 1) . Its elongated t ail , l ess -curved bill and well -t extured bl ack col or of m al es
confi rms its i denti fi cation as Qui scalus palustr is.
Christens en (2000) claims that t he tzánatl of the Flor ent ine Codex could be Brewer’s blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus). However the l att er speci es is too s mall (Tabl e 1), lacks an elongated t ail and did not breed i n the pueblos of New S pain as the tzánatl was said to do” (Sahagun [1577] 1988, p. 690).
Christens en has also argued that t he word tzánatl m a y have been us ed b y the Aztecs as a generic term for “bl ackbirds” in general. However, as can been seen in Table 1, the other “blackbirds” do not have elongated tails and are too sm all t o fit t he descri ption of t he tzánatl, except for t he Gi ant
Cowbi rd (Scaphidur a or yzi vora) and Wagler’s Oropendola (Ps arocol iu s wagl eri) whos e lengt h m eas urem ent s com e clos e to t he R espl endent Quetzal . However, thes e l att er t wo i ct erids , li ke al l the ot her “blackbi rds” of the
region (Tabl e 1), l ack the elongat ed t ail of the tzánatl and t eot zánat l, whi ch both grackl e species poss ess (Tabl e 1).
In t he Azt ec Text of the Florentine C odex, a thi rd grackl e nam e is us ed:
aca tzánatl, which translated means “reed g rackle.” The a catz ánatl is
report ed t o dwell and hat ch among the reeds (S ahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50). It is dimorphic: “Some are quite black, some only smoky” (Sahagun [1577]
1963, p. 50), s uggest ing t hat thi s nam e could not refer to onl y fem al es or onl y mal es.
The Spani sh t ext of t he Florentine C odex substi tut es t he nam e tzánatl for acatzánatl, expl aining that t he l att er are “other forms of t hese birds called tzánatl (Sahagun [1577] 1988, p. 711) .” Thus, acatzánatl is either a name for other plum ages of t he sl ender -bil led grackle (e.g. im mat ure m al es, juveni les, fem al es ), or a nam e t hat overdi fferenti at es the s peci es on anot her basi s s uch as habit at. For exam ple, acat zánatl could be us ed to di fferenti at e m arsh - nest ing from town -nesti ng s lender -bi lled grackl es , or to s eparat e the short er - tail ed plum ages of t he s peci es from the l onger -t ailed adult m al es.
Still anot her poss ibil it y is that acatzánatl and tz ánatl are folk s ynon yms . Before the rei gn of Auitzotl , t he sl ender -bill m a y have been called onl y tzánatl. Aft er the great -t ail ed grackle was int roduced into t he Vall e y of Mexico b y Auitzotl (Haemi g 1978), the nam e acat zánatl m a y have been coi ned to dis tinguish the sl ender -bill from its congener . However, som e peopl e m a y have continued t o call t he sl ender -bill ed grackle t zánat l becaus e of t raditi on .
Christens en (2000) claims that t he acat zánatl could be the red -wi nged blackbird (Agel aius phoeni ceus). I do not agree that the aca tz ánatl of the Florenti ne Codex could be the red -winged bl ackbi rd for the following
reasons: Fi rst, the ph ysi cal des cripti on does not fit. For example, there is no menti on of red on the wings in the desc ri ption of the acatz ánatl. Ins tead, t he plumage description simply reads, “some are quite black, some only smoky;”
(Sahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50). S econd, another bi rd list ed in the Florentine Codex, the coyoltototl (bel l bi rd), seem s t o fi t more closel y t he ph ysi cal
des cripti ons of both the red -winged bl ackbird and the yell ow -headed
blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephal us) than does the aca tzánatl (Thi s lumping is unders tandable since t he yellow -headed bl ackbi rd did not nest in New Spai n, but wint ered the re wit h l ocal l y nesti ng red -wi ngs ). R ea (2007) reports that m an y northern Pim as simil arl y lum p red -winged blackbi rd s, yell ow -headed bl ackbird s and ot her smal l bl ackbi rds under t he sam e folk taxon. Third, the descripti on of the s ong of the coyol totot l: “like a cascabel”
mat ches t he red -winged bl ackbi rd (S ahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50, S ahagu n [1577] 1988, p. 711).
It also does not s eem likel y that t he acatz ánatl could be Brewer’s bl ackbi rd becaus e t he acatz ánatl nest ed in New S pain (S ahagun [1577] 1963, p. 50).
Brewer’s blackbird has not been reported to breed south of Baja California, so it was not known to nest in the region covered b y t he Gener al Hist or y (i.e.
New Spai n).
A Spani sh col oni al nam e for grackle was urraca ( (S ahagun [1577] 1988, pp. 710 -711, Ba rcena 1872 ). This name ma y have been appli ed to both
speci es of grackles during t he 16t h century. However, si nce we know that the great-t ail ed grackle was not present in t he Val le y of Mexico until introduced there b y Auitzotl during t he years 1486 t o 150 2 (Haemi g 1978), I have m ade the following assum ption: In S panish l anguage t ransl ati ons of i ndi genous histori es of the m ars hlands of the Vall e y of Mexico before the rei gn of Auitzotl , an y ur racas mentioned are sl ender-bill ed grackl es (e.g. Duran [1581] 1990, p.150).
Table 1 Black -col ored Ict eri dae from the area form erl y known as New Spai n.
Measurements of m ales (i n milli met ers ) are from ski ns wit h m eans i n parenthes es . One non- Ict erid, the resplendent quetz al, is als o listed and hi ghli ght ed for compari son (data from Ri dgwa y 1911). According to t he Florenti ne Codex, the respl endent quetzal was t he s am e siz e as the tz ánatl, and had a tail of the “form and composition” of the tzánatl and t eotz ánatl. As can be seen, t he Ict erids whos e bod y l engths are mos t simil ar t o the
respl endent quetzal are the s lender -bi lled grackl e, giant cowbi rd and W agl er’s oropendola. The Ict erids wit h t he mos t el ongat ed t ail s (T/ L) are the t wo
grackl e s peci es. I concl ude that the sl ender -bi lled grackl e is t he tzánatl. S ee Appendix for additional proofs. Dat a from Ridgwa y (1902).
S P E C I E S L E N G T H ( L ) T A I L ( T ) T / L B r o wn - h e a d e d
C o wb i r d
M o l o t h r u s a t e r 1 5 2 . 4 -1 8 0 . 3 ( 1 6 3 . 6 )
6 1 . 7 -7 2 . 9 ( 6 8 . 8 )
0 . 4 2 1
B r o nz e d C o wb i r d M o l o t h r u s a e n u s 1 9 6 . 8 -2 2 3 . 5 ( 2 0 6 . 5 )
7 5 . 7 -8 2 . 3 ( 7 9 . 2 )
0 . 3 8 4
R e d - wi n g e d B l a c kb i r d
A g e l a i u s p h o e n i c e u s 2 1 3 . 4 -2 3 7 . 5 ( 2 2 1 . 2 )
9 0 . 9 -1 0 5 . 4 ( 9 4 . 7 )
0 . 4 2 8
Y e l l o w - h e a d e d B l a c kb i r d
X a n t h o c e p h a l u s x a n t h o c e p h a l u s
2 1 8 . 4 -2 5 6 . 5 ( 2 4 2 . 3 )
9 3 -1 0 8 . 5 ( 1 0 2 . 6 )
0 . 4 2 3
Brewer ’s B l a c kb i r d
E u p h a g u s c y a n o c e p h a l u s
2 1 3 . 4 -2 4 7 . 7 ( 2 2 8 . 6 )
9 1 . 9 -1 0 7 . 2 ( 9 8 . 8 )
0 . 4 3 2
M e l o d i o u s B l a c kb i r d
D i v e s d i v e s 2 6 4 . 2 -2 8 1 . 9 ( 2 7 1 . 8 )
1 1 4 . 3 -1 2 7 ( 1 1 9 . 1 )
0 . 4 3 8
G i a n t C o wb i r d S c a p h i d u r a o r y z i v o r a
3 3 0 . 2 -3 5 5 . 6 ( 3 4 3 . 4 )
1 3 3 . 4 -1 5 1 . 6 ( 1 4 5 . 8 )
0 . 4 2 5
S l e n d e r -b i l l e d G r a c k l e
Q u i s c a l u s p a l u s t r i s 3 3 0 . 2 -3 6 8 . 3 [ 3 4 9 . 3 ]
1 7 7 . 8 -1 8 9 . 2 ( 1 8 3 . 4 )
0 . 5 2 5
R e s p l e n d e n t Q u e t z a l
P h a r o m a c h r u s m o c i n n o
3 5 5 - 3 9 0 ( 3 7 1 ) 1 9 7 - 2 1 7 . 5 ( 2 0 5 . 3 )
0 . 5 5 3
G r e a t -t a i l e d G r a c k l e
Q u i s c a l u s m e x i c a n u s 3 9 3 . 7 -4 5 7 . 2 ( 4 2 2 . 4 )
1 9 5 . 6 -2 3 5 ( 2 1 7 . 2 )
0 . 5 1 4
Y e l l o w - b i l l e d C a c i q ue
A m b l y c e r c u s h o l o s e r i c e u s
2 0 0 . 7 -2 6 4 . 2 ( 2 2 5 )
9 1 . 4 -1 1 4 . 3 ( 1 0 0 . 3 )
0 . 4 4 6
M e xi c a n C a c i q ue C a c i c u s m e l a n i c t e r u s
2 7 4 . 3 -3 2 3 . 9 ( 2 9 3 . 9 )
1 2 6 . 5 -1 3 7 . 2 ( 1 3 1 . 3 )
0 . 4 4 7
Wagler ’s O r o p e nd o l a
P s a r o c o l i u s w a g l e r i
3 3 0 . 2 -3 6 8 . 3 ( 3 4 4 . 4 )
1 2 4 . 5 -1 3 2 . 6 ( 1 2 7 . 3 )
0 . 3 7 0
M o n t e z u ma O r o p e nd o l a
P s a r o c o l i u s m o n t e z u m a
4 5 0 . 9 -5 2 0 . 7 ( 4 9 1 )
1 8 5 . 9 -2 0 5 . 2 ( 1 9 7 . 4 )
0 . 4 0 2
Table 2 Wing and t ail m easurem ents (i n millim et ers) wit h m eans i n parenthes es for mal e pl ain chachal acas (Ortal is vetula vet ula) and m ale
grackl es (Quis cal us mexi canus and Q. palustris). According t o the Flor entine Codex, the chachal aca w as the same size as t he t eotz ánatl. As can be s een, the great -t ailed grackle (Quis calus mexicanus) has siz e di mensions simil ar t o the chachal aca, whil e t he sl ender -bill ed grackl e (Quis calus palustr is) is too small . (Dat a are from Ridgwa y (1902) and Ri dgw a y and Fri edmann (1946).
Tot al bod y l engt h m easurements are not com pared becaus e R i dgwa y and Friedm ann do not gi ve them.
S P E C I E S W I N G L E N G T H T A I L
O r t a l i s v e t u l a v e t u l a 1 7 7 -2 0 2 ( 1 9 2 . 8 ) 1 9 7 -2 2 5 ( 2 1 4 . 3 ) Q u i s c a l u s m e x i c a n u s 1 8 4 . 2 -1 9 8 . 9 ( 1 8 9 . 2 ) 1 9 5 . 6 -2 3 5 ( 2 1 7 . 2 ) Q u i s c a l u s p a l u s t r i s 1 6 9 . 7 -1 7 0 . 2 ( 1 6 9 . 9 ) 1 7 7 . 8 -1 8 9 . 2 ( 1 8 3 . 4 )
