White-shouldered Tanager - Costa Rica and the gallery (1 Viewer)

This photo from the gallery looks a bit like a female from the Caribbean side of the country (axillaris), but is from Osa Peninsula. Is the id correct? And should birds from that area look like this - if they should, which subspecies is found there as well as further north on the Pacific side of Costa Rica?

One reason for my interest is that we have no photo of a female in the Opus page

Niels

I think it's mislabelled and should be White-lined not White-shouldered?




Andy

for white-lined, compare with the last image here: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-lined_Tanager

Niels

njlarsen said:

for white-lined, compare with the last image here: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-lined_Tanager

Niels

Click to expand...

It looks fine for W-lined to me, your pic is too enlarged and not very sharp.

White-shouldered female has a grey head, your bird has greyish cheeks at best which could be wear, top of the head is clearly brown?
White-shouldered is also clearly greener toned rather than rufous like your bird.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=f...ei=PqYfWNXBOsi0a57yqvAP#imgrc=V0XUDPrVOzZDqM:


Andy

njlarsen said:

This photo from the gallery looks a bit like a female from the Caribbean side of the country (axillaris), but is from Osa Peninsula. Is the id correct? And should birds from that area look like this - if they should, which subspecies is found there as well as further north on the Pacific side of Costa Rica?

One reason for my interest is that we have no photo of a female in the Opus page

Niels

Click to expand...

Afaik axillaris is the ssp found on the Pacific side of CRica south to the Chiriqui in Panama. Females from both slopes in CRica look quite similar, with the throat said to be buffier on Pacific birds. This bird looks fine to me for a female-type White-shouldered Tanager.
A female-type, apparently from Osa, linked below:
http://www.osasounds.com/resources/tim_LG/white shouldered tanager.jpg

Thanks Eduardo,
I was wondering about subspecies distribution because of three things:
1) the older ed 1 of the Garrigues and Dean FG shows as the main drawing a bird similar to the main birds in Panama with gray head with a different drawing (like your link) for a Caribbean bird
2) My old Panama book states that nitidissimus is somewhat similar to axillaris and is found from Chiriqui to extreme SW CR
3) the Clements check list download says that axillaris is on the Caribbean slope of Honduras to W Panama while nitidissimus is in Pacific slope of SW CR and extreme western Panama -- so according to them, what is in the rest of the Pacific slope

Niels