Opal-rumped Tanager
Tangara velia
Common tanager, found in a variety of forest habitats. Usually seen from below, in which case it is best identified by uniform dark underparts with rufous lower belly and undertail coverts, and active behavior. The shining white rump can be seen from most angles on perched birds, even when high overhead. Found in tall rainforest, shorter-stature forests on sandy soils, and in disturbed areas. Groups move rapidly through treetops, usually with other species of small tanagers, feeding on fruit. Calls are indistinct chips, often given in rapid series in flight.
Taxonomy
In 1743 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the opal-rumped tanager in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "Red-belly'd Blue-bird" ". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen owned by the Duke of Richmond that had been collected in Suriname. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the opal-rumped tanager with the wagtails in the genus Motacilla. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Motacilla velia and cited Edwards' work. Linnaeus provided no explanation for the specific epithet; it is perhaps a misprint for the Ancient Greek elea, a small bird mentioned by Aristotle. The bay-headed tanager is now placed in the genus Tangara that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The type locality is Suriname.<p>Four subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Tangara velia
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Tangara
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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