Brown-backed Solitaire

The brown-backed solitaire is 20.5 to 21.5 cm (8.1 to 8.5 in) long and weighs 38 to 44 g (1.3 to 1.6 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies M. o. occidentalis have black lores with a white stripe above them, a broken white eye-ring, a white "moustache" stripe, black cheeks, and a white chin and upper throat on an otherwise dull darkish gray head. Their upper back is dull darkish gray that becomes olive-rufous on the rump and tail; the outer tail feathers have white tips. Their scapulars and the edges of their wing feathers are a richer rusty brown. Their breast is dull darkish gray that fades to a paler gray on the belly. They have a black bill and grayish pink legs and feet. Juveniles resemble adults with the addition of whitish buff edges on their body feathers that give a spotted appearance. Subspecies M. o. insularis has more white on its throat and slightly paler gray upperparts than the nominate. M. o. oberhoseri has more and deeper gray on its underparts than the nominate and also reddish brown legs and feet.

The brown-backed solitaire has a disjunct distribution. The nominate subspecies is found in western Mexico from Sonora south to Oaxaca. Subspecies M. o. insularis is found on the Tres Marias Islands off the coast of Nayarit. M. o. oberhoseri is found from Nuevo León in northeastern Mexico south to Oaxaca, in Chiapas, and in several discrete ranges in southern Guatemala, El Salvador, and southwestern Honduras. The species has two records in Cochise County in the U.S. state of Arizona that are believed to be of the same individual. It was photographed on July 16, 2009 and then photographed and audio recorded a few miles away between July 18 and August 1, 2009. The species was added to the Checklist of North American Birds and the American Birding Association's checklist; the latter lists it as a "Code 5," or "incidental," species. Several previous reports of the species in the U.S. had not been accepted due to concern about their origin, as the species is a common cage bird in Mexico. The brown-backed solitaire inhabits a variety of forest types in the subtropical zone. These include cloud forest and pine-oak, montane evergreen, lowland evergreen, and semi-deciduous forests. Overall it ranges in elevation from about 300 to 3,500 m (1,000 to 11,500 ft). South of Mexico it ranges from 600 to 3,050 m (2,000 to 10,000 ft) but is usually found above 1,450 m (4,800 ft).

The brown-backed solitaire feeds on fruits, favoring those of Bumelia and Prunus species. One source states that it forages in clearings and up to the forest's middle strata; another says it forages from the mid- to upper level.