Alternative name: Fulvous-chested Tanager
- Thlypopsis ornata
Identification
12–13 cm (4¾-5 in); A small, greyish tanager with a rufous head and chest.
- Dark orange-rufous head to upper breast continuing to sides and flanks
- Olive-grey to brownish-grey upperparts and tail
- White centre of breast to belly
Females are similar but paler.
Immatures are duller than adults.
Similar species
Distinguished from Brown-flanked Tanager by orange-rufous and not brownish sides and flanks.
Distribution
South America: found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Uncommon and rather local.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Three subspecies recognized[1]:
- T. o. ornata on the western slope of the central Andes in Colombia and locally in Ecuador
- T. o. media on the eastern slope of the Andes in extreme southern Ecuador and Peru
- T. o. macropteryx on the eastern slope of the Andes in Peru
May form a superspecies with Brown-flanked Tanager and has been considered conspecific with it.
Habitat
Moist montane forest and high altitude shrubland.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects.
Usually seen singly, in pairs or in family groups. Sometimes in mixed-species flocks.
Forages restlessly and actively.
Breeding
Breeding season probably from February to end May. The nest is a small open cup placed low above the ground in grass or a young bush. Lays 2 eggs.
Movements
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. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2011. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 16: Tanagers to New World Blackbirds. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553781
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Rufous-chested Tanager. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rufous-chested_Tanager
