Black-crowned tanager

The black-crowned tanager, also known as the black-crowned palm-tanager, is a captivating bird native to the island of Hispaniola. It belongs to the Phaenicophilidae family, though it was previously classified under Thraupidae. This bird thrives in a variety of habitats, including dry forests, lowland forests, mangrove forests, montane forests, and even areas where forests have been degraded.

The bird's journey through the world of taxonomy is quite intriguing. It was first described by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760, who named it "Merula palmarum." This name was later revised by the renowned Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 to "Turdus palmarum" with "palmarum" emphasizing its association with palm trees. The species was eventually reclassified under the genus Phaenicophilus by the English geologist and naturalist Hugh Edwin Strickland in 1851.