Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Breeding range extends from South Carolina south to Florida, and west to Louisiana and east Texas; and from southeastern Mexico (Chiapas) south through Central America to eastern Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina, Paraguay, and southeastern Brazil (Meyer 1995). The species is resident in South America from the Amazon Basin to Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname. Range in the United States has contracted; formerly the species bred north to Minnesota (Meyer 1995). During the nonbreeding season, this species occurs primarily in the northern half of South America, rarely in Central America or northward (Sibley and Monroe 1990, Meyer 1995, AOU 1998). See Palmer (1988) for detailed account of range.