Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager
Driophlox atrimaxillaris
Large tanager usually found close to the ground. Male is sooty gray with black face and bright red throat that bleeds onto chest. Red crown not usually visible. Females have paler buffy-orange throat. Usually seen in small flocks as they forage through the forest understory. Listen for harsh scolding notes that might cue you into a flock.
Identification
Based on a small number of specimens, the black-cheeked ant tanager is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long and weighs 36.2 to 48.9 g (1.28 to 1.72 oz). The male's upper parts are dark gray with a red tinge, and it has a (usually invisible) orange-red crest. The face has a diffuse black "mask". The throat is bright salmon orange that transitions through darker salmon to dark gray with a pink tinge on the belly. The female is similar but duller and its crest is smaller.
Taxonomy
The original description of the black-cheeked ant tanager assigned it the binomial Phoenicothraupis atrimaxillaris and placed it in family Thraupidae, the "true" tanagers. Genus Habia was later shown to have priority so the species was renamed to its current binomial. In the early 2000s, DNA analysis revealed that all the members of Habia were more closely related to the cardinals, so they were moved to family Cardinalidae.
- Scientific name
- Driophlox atrimaxillaris
- Authority
- (Dwight & Griscom, 1924)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Driophlox
Range and habitat
The black-cheeked ant tanager is found only on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula and the adjoining eastern shore of Golfo Dulce. (One wandering individual was captured more than 70 km (43 mi) inland.) It inhabits well-developed understorey in lowland forest, riparian woodlands, and older secondary forest. It stays in the forest interior and shuns edges and open habitat. In elevation it ranges up to approximately 300 m (980 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The black-cheeked ant tanager is primarily insectivorous, though it also eats fruits and small vertebrates.<p>The black-cheeked ant tanager has been documented nesting between January and March. It builds an open cup nest fairly low in understorey vegetation. All known clutches were of two eggs. The species appears to nest cooperatively, as three adults have been documented attending nestlings.<p>The black-cheeked ant tanager's dawn song has been variously described as "whistled phrases...chonk TWEEah, chonk TWEEah" and a "clear, mellow, whistled tu-see, tu-see or tu-seeur tu-swee tu-seeur" [1]. It has a variety of calls such as [2] and [3].
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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