Brown Tanager
Orchesticus abeillei
Large and rather uncommon tanager found in the canopy of humid forests where it usually accompanies mixed-species flocks. Plain brown overall with a cinnamon face, wings, and tail and a dark mask running through the eyes. Its plumage mimics the Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, with which it is easily confused and it may even occur in the same flock, but note the tanager’s thicker bill. The thin rising song is very high-pitched.
Taxonomy
The brown tanager was formally described in 1839 by the French naturalist René Lesson under the binomial name Pyrrhula abeillei. The species was moved to its own monospecific genus Orchesticus in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. The type locality is Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek orkhēstikos meaning "good at dancing". The specific epithet abeillei was chosen to honour the French collector and naturalist M. Abeillé. Within the Thraupidae the brown tanager is placed with the yellow-shouldered grosbeak in the subfamily Orchesticinae. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Orchesticus abeillei
- Authority
- (Lesson, RP, 1839)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Orchesticus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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