- Tangara labradorides
Identification
12 cm. A small tanager whose plumage colour varies with angle of light.
- Mostly shining opalescent bluish-green plumage
- Black lores and area around bill
- Narrow black crown
- Black scapulars
- Black tail with green edges
- Shining opalescent green throat and underparts (with bluish tinge), becoming rich cinnamon-buff to tawny-buff on centre of belly and undertail-coverts
- Black, relatively long bill
Females are similar but head to chest uniformly shining opalescent green, without bluish tinge. Juveniles are dull dark greyish-brown with some weak buff spotting on broad eyebrow and dusky brown tail and wings.
Distribution
Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Rare to locally fairly common, most common in Colombia.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies recognized:
- T. l. labradorides in the Andes of west Colombia and west Ecuador
- T. l. chaupensis in the Andes of northeast Peru (south to San Martín)
Habitat
Moist montanes, usually at forest edge, in second growth, bushy overgrown pastures and clearings, also in canopy of closed forest.
Occurs at 1300 to 2400 m in Colombia (to 900 m on Pacific slope), mainly at 900 to 2000 m in Ecuador and 1350 to 2200 m in Peru.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on fruits and arthropods.
Forages in pairs or small groups of up to five birds, often in mixed-species flocks with other Tangara Tanagers. Forages actively through smaller branches and peers at outer foliage, very similar to Speckled Tanager.
Breeding
Nests, juveniles or birds in breeding condition recorded from March to August and in October and November. No other information.
Movements
This is a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2016)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Metallic-green Tanager. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Metallic-green_Tanager