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
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Anarhynchus mongolus
Medium-sized plover with a pale throat, brown back, and white belly. Breeding adults have a black mask, white forehead, and a bright orange chest and neck; males average brighter than females. Non-breeding and immature birds are brownish above and white below, with a variable white forehead and eyebrow. Compare with slightly larger Greater Sand-Plover; Siberian is proportionally smaller-headed and darker-legged, and its shorter bill has a slight bulge at the tip. Smaller Kentish Plover can be similar in non-breeding plumage; Siberian is taller and longer-legged, without Kentish’s strong white neck band. Very difficult to distinguish from Tibetan Sand-Plover, especially nonbreeding and immature birds, though identification can often be presumed by range. In breeding plumage, note the less extensive black mask of Siberian, usually with a white spot on the forehead. In nonbreeding plumage, look for a generally stronger breast band and faint brown markings on the flanks in Siberian. In areas of overlap many birds best left unidentified. Breeds mainly in Russian Far East; winters on coastal mudflats and beaches from Taiwan to Australia.
Rufous-tailed Robin
Larvivora sibilans
Combination of strongly scaled breast, rufous tail, and round-headed appearance distinguish this species from others in its range. Small and skulky, sticking to dense shrubbery and shorter trees in its forest breeding grounds, where it favors dense, moist growth in lowland broadleaf forests. Often bolder on migration, emerging into forest edges and gardens. Song is distinctive, a long, wet-sounding descending trill.
Gray-winged Blackbird
Turdus boulboul
A large forest thrush whose name describes its key feature; males are black and females are brown, but both have flashing silvery wings. Bright orange bill and eyering are eye-catching in dark forests. Forages quietly in the understory of montane and submontane broadleaf evergreen forests. Often solitary, occasionally in flocks in the winter. Tends not to visit gardens and parks like Tibetan and Chinese blackbirds, but does occasionally visit feeders at hides. Sweet, “thrushy” song consists of warbled phrases, sometimes with a slightly scratchy quality.
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