Golden-collared Honeycreeper
Iridophanes pulcherrimus
Small tanager of Andean cloud forest. Colorful male has black upperparts broken by a golden hind collar, pale blue underparts, and a blue stripe on the wing. Female is much plainer and may appear featureless when seen in dim light. Look for a grayish face, hint of a golden collar, blue or green tinge to the wings, and red eyes. Forages in middle to upper levels of the forest and often joins mixed-species flocks. Visits feeders in some areas.
Taxonomy
The golden-collared honeycreeper was formally described in 1853 by the English zoologist Philip Sclater from a specimen collected near Bogotá in Colombia. He coined the binomial name Tangara pulcherrima. It is now the only species placed in the genus Iridophanes that was erected by Robert Ridgway in 1901. The genus name Iridophanes combines the Ancient Greek iris meaning "rainbow" and -phanēs meaning "showing". The specific epithet pulcherrimus is Latin for "very beautiful".<p>A molecular phylogenetic study of the tanager family published in 2014 found that the golden-collared honeycreeper and the green honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) were sister species.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Iridophanes pulcherrimus
- Authority
- (Sclater, PL, 1853)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Iridophanes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Eurasian Griffon
Gyps fulvus
Massive tricolored vulture with whitish head and neck, pale brown body, and contrasting dark flight feathers. Juveniles similar but with a pale brown rather than white neck ruff. Nests in colonies on cliff ledges; often seen in loose flocks soaring over valleys and mountainsides but always in search of updrafts and thermals. Still the commonest vulture over much of its breeding range. Some populations are resident while others are highly migratory.
Rufous-sided Warbling Finch
Poospizopsis hypochondria
Small tanager of semi-arid montane forest at upper elevations in the eastern Andes from NW Argentina to Lake Titicaca, and in the Sierra de Comechingones in C Argentina. Prefers scrubby vegetation, including open Polylepis forest, often in small flocks with other species. Underparts gray and whitish with rufous restricted to sides and flanks on males, and lower belly on females. Similar Bolivia Warbling-Finch shows rufous across chest.
Japanese Robin
Larvivora akahige
Small migratory songbird of mature forest with distinctive orange breast and dull brown upperparts. Sticks to undergrowth in both montane breeding grounds and lowland wintering grounds, though presence in the former may be given away by its loud song: a trill following a single introductory note. Forages on the ground and prefers to stick to shady areas. Occasionally found in parks and gardens on migration.
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