Red-billed Pied Tanager
Lamprospiza melanoleuca
Social, black-and-white bird of rainforest canopy. Combination of pied plumage and red bill is diagnostic. Always seen at the uppermost levels of tall rainforest in groups of 4–10 individuals, ranging noisily through the canopy and moving from one emergent tree to the next. Often perches on bare branches but seldom remains in one place for long. Forages deliberately, hopping along branches and taking both insects and fruit. Often associates with other species, but tends to remain on the periphery of mixed-species canopy flocks, sometimes flying off long distances and returning. More often heard than seen; calls include a mixture of slurred and musical doubled notes. Calls are sharp, far carrying, and distinctive once learned.
Identification
The red-billed pied tanager is 17 to 18 cm (6.7 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 24 to 42 g (0.85 to 1.48 oz). The male's head and upper parts are glossy blue-black, its throat and chest black, and the rest of the underparts white. The female is similar but the nape, back, and rump are gray. Both have the eponymous red bill. The juvenile is quite different; it has a black bill and head. Its upper back is white and the lower back mottled black and white. The underparts are white with some black mixed in.
Taxonomy
French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot described the red-billed pied tanager as Saltator melanoleucus in 1817. In 1823, English ornithologist John Latham called it the divaricated tanager, having seen a specimen in Lord Stanley's collection. French naturalist René Lesson called it Psaris habia in his work Centurie zoologique. English ornithologist George Robert Gray followed on by placing in the genus Tityra as T. habia in his Genera of Birds. German ornithologist Jean Cabanis defined the genus Lamprospiza in 1847, giving it the binomial name of Lamprospiza habia. Finally English zoologist Philip Sclater gave it its current name in 1856, synonymising the species descriptions to date. <p>The red-billed pied tanager and the three other species in family Mitrospingidae were previously placed in family Thraupidae, the "true" tanagers. A 2013 publication detailed how they did not belong there and proposed the new family for them. The North and South American Classification Committees of the American Ornithological Society accepted the new placement in July 2017 and March 2019, respectively. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) followed suit in January 2018.<p>The red-billed pied tanager is the only member of its genus and has no subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Lamprospiza melanoleuca
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Lamprospiza
Range and habitat
The red-billed pied tanager is found in the upper Amazon Basin from eastern and southeastern Peru and northern Bolivia east to central Brazil and north into the Guianas. There it inhabits the canopy and emergent trees of humid terra firme forest up to about 900 m (3,000 ft) elevation. It can also be found on the edges of the forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The red-billed pied tanager's diet includes berries, seeds, beetles, and Cecropia catkins. It typically forages in groups of three to eight individuals that may associate with mixed-species feeding flocks. It hops between branches and occasionally sallies out for flying prey.<p>Very little has been published about the red-billed pied tanager's breeding phenology. A female was seen on a nest in Brazil's Amazonas state in February. Fledged young were seen in Mato Grosso in June and in Amazonas in September.<p>The red-billed pied tanager's song is complex, "a semi-musical but jumbled series". Flocks give a call rendered as "ééé-ééh...ééé-ééé-ééh...ééé-ééh-yuu...".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Spotted Owlet
Athene brama
A small uncrested owl with a round head and a short tail. It is grayish-brown overall with white spots above while its underparts are white with brown bars. Note the distinctive white eyebrows and neck-band. Often active at dawn and dusk when it utters a loud “chirurr-chirurr-chirurr” laugh in addition to a variety of high-pitched squeals and whistles. Inhabits all kinds of open habitats but avoids dense forest and wetter regions.
Maghreb Owl
Strix mauritanica
A medium-sized owl with deep black eyes, strictly nocturnal and infrequently seen. Gray to gray-brown overall with a big rounded head. Found at a broad range of elevations from sea level to high mountains, in woodland, forest, parkland, rocky areas, and sometimes towns and villages. Tends to roost well hidden in foliage during the day, when may be detected by tracking down the excited sound of small birds mobbing the owl. Comes out at night to hunt in clearings and more open areas. Most often detected by its quavering hoots and "kee-wik!" shrieks, given at night. Somewhat similar to Pharaoh Eagle-Owl, but smaller and grayer, with dark rather than yellow-orange eyes.
White-throated Caracara
Daptrius albogularis
Uncommon in southern Andes; range does not overlap with Mountain Caracara. Favors open habitats above treeline, but also ranges lower to scavenge at dumps and in farmland with open trees. Often associates with Chimango and Crested Caracaras at the dump outside Ushuaia, Argentina. Sails, soars, and tumbles easily on updrafts. Adult is handsome and strikingly patterned black-and-white with creamy white underparts and a bold white tail tip. Juvenile is rather similar to smaller Chimango Caracara, but distinguished by black (not pale) bill.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.