365 Urban Species. #106: Lesser Antillean Bullfinch

Photo of female bullfinch, by cottonmanifesto

Urban species #106: Lesser Antillean bullfinch Loxigilla noctis

In the absence of house sparrows, some other little bird will cling near to houses and other buildings, and glean the crumbs forever dropped by their inhabitants. In the eastern Caribbean islands this role is taken by the Lesser Antillean bullfinch. Alexis and I nearly took this bird to be our personal mascot on our trip. The male, all black but for reddish patches on his throat and under his tail, and the female dull olive throughout, were equally likely to visit us as we sat on a porch or at an open-air restaurant.

While this bird is common on the islands on which it occurs, it is found nowhere else on Earth. There are two other species in the Genus Loxigilla, a species from the Greater Antilles, and one from Puerto Rico. They are in the family Emberizidae, the American sparrows, along with the junco and white-throated sparrow.

( more photos of our favorite Antiguan bird: )

365 Urban Species. #115: Mica Cap

Another great picture by cottonmanifesto.

Urban species #115: Mica cap Coprinus micaceus

Several different mushrooms in the genus Coprinus are urban species. The shaggy mane (C. comatus) and the alcohol inky (C. atramentarius) are popular edibles that grow in grassy lawns. (The latter gets its name from the adverse reaction that it causes when consumed with alcohol--an attribute shared with several species in the group.) Other Coprinus mushrooms grow from richly fertilized soil, or directly from feces. Collectively they have the common name "inky caps," because their caps deliquesce into black liquid as they release their spores.

The mica cap is identified by the tawny brown color of the caps, and by the flecks of shiny material that gives it its name. This latter feature can be washed off by rain--possibly the very rain that caused the fungus to fruit. This mushroom grows from dead wood, often old stumps buried beneath soil.

( closer, and then much farther away )