Blue-capped Tanager
Sporathraupis cyanocephala
Fairly large tanager, bright olive above and gray below with mostly blue head. Stout bill. Sexes similar. Mostly an Andean species, found in the subtropical and temperate zones. Usually single or in pairs, often following a mixed-species flock. Occurs in any open wooded habitat, including forest edges, second growth, and gardens.
Taxonomy
The blue-capped tanager was formally described in 1837 by the French naturalists Alcide d'Orbigny and Frédéric de Lafresnaye from a specimen collected in the Bolivian Yungas. They coined the binomial name Aglaia cyanocephala. The species was usually placed in the genus Thraupis but when a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that it was not closely related to other members of Thraupis, it was moved to the resurrected genus Sporathraupis that had been erected in 1898 by Robert Ridgway with the blue-capped tanager as the type species. The genus name Sporathraupis combines the Ancient Greek spora meaning "seed" with thraupis, the word for an unknown small bird. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek kuanos meaning "dark blue" with -kephalos meaning "-headed".<p>Eight subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Sporathraupis cyanocephala
- Authority
- (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Sporathraupis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Pale-headed Rosella
Platycercus adscitus
Pale yellow and blue rosella with characteristic white and yellow head. Endemic to the northern parts of eastern Australia where it may hybridize with other rosellas. Occurs in a wide range of open habitats, and mostly in pairs rather than large flocks. Reasonably common in suburban areas, although it can be hard to find.
Striped Woodpecker
Dryobates lignarius
The only small woodpecker in its range. Fairly common but easily overlooked in a variety of wooded and forested habitats, parks, farmland, and matorral with taller hedges and trees. Usually found as ones and twos, foraging on smaller branches from low bushes to tall Eucalyptus trees. Sometimes joins with feeding flocks of rayaditos and other species, mainly in winter. Black-and-white pattern much like other small woodpeckers, with barred upperparts and dark streaks (or stripes) on breast. Male has a red nape patch.
Chilean Flicker
Colaptes pitius
No similar species in its range. Found in woodland, forest, matorral, and farmland with taller trees and hedges; often feeds on the ground. In some areas of central Chile nests in colonies in dirt bluffs, such as along roadsides; elsewhere usually nests in holes drilled in trees. Note the gray crown and plain buffy face (with dark whisker on male), big white rump patch, and yellow shafts to wing feathers (mainly visible in flight). Loud shrieking calls sometimes draw attention.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.