From Opus

Thraupis palmarum

Photo by Gary Clark
Location: Las Horquetas, Costa Rica.

[edit] Identification

6" (15 cm). Grey-olive green, pale crown, black flight feathers, long black tail edged with green, yellow wing bar. Sexes similar.

[edit] Distribution

Central America as far north as Honduras (where first reported in 2005), Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil, Trinidad and, since 1962, on Tobago.

[edit] Taxonomy

Four subspecies are recognized:^[1]

• T. p. atripennis - E. Nicaragua to n. Colombia and extreme nw Venezuela
• T. p. violilavata - Pacific slope of Andes, s Colombia and Ecuador
• T. p. melanoptera - E. Colombia to n Bolivia, the Guianas and the Amazon area in Brazil
• T. p. palmarum - E and s Brazil to e Bolivia and Paraguay

[edit] Habitat

Clearings, woodland edges in lowlands, often found near human habitations. It occurs in semi-open areas including cultivation and gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

It builds a cup shaped nest; 2-3 brown blotched cream eggs are laid and incubated by the female for 14 days. After 17 days the young fledge. Diet includes fruit, nectar, insects.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.

[edit] External Links