Trembler

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Tremblers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Mimidae
Genus: Cinclocerthia
G.R. Gray, 1840
Species

Cinclocerthia gutturalis
Cinclocerthia ruficauda

Synonyms

Tremblers are a New World group of passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the Mimidae family. There are 2 species in one genus, Cinclocerthia:

Among the living birds, these are apparently most closely related to the Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Hunt et al. 2001, Barber et al. 2004).

Their common name comes from their peculiar behavior: if excited, they will show a much more exaggerated version of the wing-flicking also seen in other mimids, for example the Northern Mockingbirds. The tremblers do not just flick their wings, but shake their entire bodies in a trembling motion.

[edit] References

  • Hunt, Jeffrey S.; Bermingham, Eldredge; & Ricklefs, Robert E. (2001): Molecular systematics and biogeography of Antillean thrashers, tremblers, and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae). Auk 118(1): 35–55. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118[0035:MSABOA]2.0.CO;2 HTML fulltext without images