Western Mexico from Sonora southern along Pacific slope to Chiapas, extending inland along Balsas drainage to south-western México; also southern Guatemala and El Salvador.
 
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 50,000 - 499,999 (2010).
Mexican Cacique (Cassiculus melanicterus) [XC351584]
by Frank Lambert from La Bajada, San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico (call)
Mexican Cacique (melanicterus) [XC497366]
by Richard E. Webster from Panuco Road, Sinaloa, Mexico (call)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Often placed in genus Cacicus, but preliminary mitochondrial DNA data suggest an ancestral position within the cacique - oropendola clade. Is a rather distinctive species, geographically isolated from other caciques, with habitat preferences somewhat different from those of latter, and with nest resembling those of oropendolas. For all those reasons, placement in its own monotypic genus seems appropriate.