Silver-throated Tanager
Tangara icterocephala
Small tanager, overall lemon-yellow but not super bright; usually looks a bit dirty. Distinctive silvery throat; also note green edges on wing feathers and black streaks on back. Sexes similar; females a bit duller than males. Common and active; usually found in pairs or small flocks, sometimes with larger mixed feeding flocks. Tends to be found in more open areas such as forest edges or gardens, but also in forest canopy. Feeds on fruit.
Identification
The silver-throated tanager is an average-sized Tangara tanager, being 13 centimetres (5.1 in) long and weighing 22 grams (0.78 oz) on average. The species shows slight sexual dimorphism, with females being duller than males. The male is mainly bright yellow, with a silvery-white throat bordered above with a black stripe on the cheeks. The back is yellow with black streaking, and the wings and tail are yellow with green edges. The iris is brown, the beak is black, and the feet are gray. Adult females look similar to males, but have duller and greener plumage, and occasional faint dark mottling on the crown. Immatures are much duller and greener, with dusky wings, tail, back streaks and cheek stripe, a grey throat and darker green wing edging. This subadult plumage is kept through to the end of the first breeding season.<p>The silver-throated tanager's calls are insect-like buzzes. When foraging or flying, the species has been recorded giving a harsh, buzzy jjeut, or a high-pitched bzeeet. It also gives a high-pitched tic. Its songs have not been described.
Taxonomy
The silver-throated tanager was first described as Calliste icterocephala by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1851 on the basis of a specimen from Ecuador. The genus Calliste was subsequently synonymized with Calospiza, which itself was later lumped with Tangara. The generic name Tangara comes from the Tupí word tangara, meaning dancer. The specific name icterocephala is from the Ancient Greek words ikteros, meaning yellow, and kephalos, meaning headed. Silver-throated tanager is the official common name designated by the International Ornithologists' Union.<p>The silver-throated tanager is one of 27 species in the genus Tangara, in the tanager family Thraupidae. According to a 2004 study of mitochondrial DNA by Kevin Burns and Kazuya Naoki, it is part of a species group with the blue-whiskered tanager, green-and-gold tanager, emerald tanager, golden tanager, saffron-crowned tanager, golden-eared tanager, and flame-faced tanager within the genus. Within this group, it is sister to the emerald tanager. The clade formed by these two species is sister to the golden tanager. The following cladogram shows phylogenetic relationships within the species group based on the above study:<p>There are three recognized subspecies of the silver-throated tanager. The subspecies are differentiated by differences in their appearance and their distribution.
- Scientific name
- Tangara icterocephala
- Authority
- (Bonaparte, 1851)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Tangara
Range and habitat
It is found from northern Costa Rica through Panama, Colombia, and Peru to southern Ecuador, mainly at elevations of 600–1,800 m (2,000–5,900 ft), but occasionally from 0–2,300 m (0–7,546 ft). It inhabits mossy forests, montane evergreen forests, tropical lowland evergreen forests and forest edges, along with tall secondary forests. It also inhabits disturbed habitats with remnant trees and forest. It has been observed in clearings with fruit trees next to forests in Costa Rica, but rarely leaves forested habitat in Colombia.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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