Yellow-green Tanager

Bangsia flavovirens

A rare and easily-overlooked bird restricted to wet foothill forest in the Andes of western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Plumage is almost uniform yellow-olive with a slightly darker face; throat may appear slightly yellower, but never as bright as Yellow-throated Chlorospingus. Usually encountered in pairs or small groups at middle to upper forest levels, and sometimes joins mixed-species flocks.

Identification

The yellow-green tanager (Bangsia flavovirens) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It was formerly known as the yellow-green bush tanager or yellow-green chlorospingus as it used to be placed in the genus Chlorospingus with other bush tanagers. Chlorospingus as a whole was formerly placed in the tanager family Thraupidae, but was transferred to the New World sparrows when genetic analysis of two Chlorospingus species revealed they were embedded within the latter family. However, more recently, molecular analysis of additional Chlorospingus species found that the yellow-green tanager is not a member of Chlorospingus (or any other New World sparrow) but a true tanager after all, most closely related to the blue-and-gold tanager, so the species was returned to Thraupidae and placed in the genus Bangsia. The yellow-green tanager is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Taxonomy

Genus: Bangsia; Family: Thraupidae; Order: Passeriformes.

Scientific name
Bangsia flavovirens
Authority
(Lawrence, 1867)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Thraupidae
Genus
Bangsia

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Behavior

Migration pattern: Resident species.

Conservation

Population trend: declining.

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Vietnamese Cutia

Vietnamese Cutia

Cutia legalleni

A bulky, heavyset bird with a murderous-looking hooked bill. Very similar in appearance to Himalayan Cutia, but ranges do not overlap. Male has blue-gray crown and wing patch, midnight-black mask, orange back and rump, and black-barred white underparts. Female of southern population is much duller, with a dark brown head and streaked brown back. (Northern female has not yet been described.) Inhabits both broadleaved and coniferous hill forest. Moves sluggishly, often in mixed flocks. Song is loud and repetitive, consisting of somewhat twangy whistles and more fluid, warbled notes.

Eurasian Jackdaw

Eurasian Jackdaw

Coloeus monedula

Distinctive, small social crow with contrasting, silvery-gray neck shawl and staring whitish eyes; juvenile has duller shawl and eyes. Walks confidently, and can be easy to see where not persecuted; associates readily with crows and Rooks. Flocks can number in the hundreds or thousands in the nonbreeding season. Inhabits open and semiopen habitats, from towns and wooded parkland to farmland and sea cliffs; often around stone buildings and chimneys. Nests in cavities. Listen for its distinctive high-pitched “tchaw, tchaw” calls.

Great Rosefinch

Great Rosefinch

Carpodacus rubicilla

As the name suggests, a large rosefinch. Male is bright pink with a dark face and frosty specks on the underparts. Female is streaky brown all over. Very similar to Streaked Rosefinch; look out for unstreaked upperparts in the male and softer, larger white spots on the underparts. Prefers more sparsely vegetated areas at higher elevations than Streaked Rosefinch, favoring alpine and subalpine scree slopes, boulder fields, and other open and barren environments; descends into similar habitat in the winter. Gives various chips, cheeps, and wheezy notes.

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