Red-crowned Ant Tanager

Overview

The red-crowned ant tanager (Habia rubica) is a medium-sized passerine bird native to tropical America. Although historically classified with the tanagers, it is taxonomically closer to the cardinals and is the sole species within the genus Habia.

Identification

• Males exhibit dull reddish brown plumage with a brighter red throat and breast, featuring a black-bordered scarlet crown stripe that is raised when the bird is excited.
• Females are yellowish brown, characterised by a yellow throat and a yellow-buff crown stripe.
• The bird has a rattle call followed by a musical sequence of 'pee-pee-pee'.

Habitat

This species is a resident breeder ranging from Mexico south to Paraguay and northern Argentina, as well as on Trinidad. It favours the middle stratum of forests and undergrowth rich in ferns, shrubs, and herbs.

Diet

Primarily feeding on arthropods and berries, the bird often acts as a commensal by following army ant columns in Central America and Trinidad, or South American coatis in the dry season to snatch startled invertebrate prey.

Did you know?

In lowland forests of southeastern Brazil, the bird may act as a nuclear species for understory mixed-species feeding flocks, though it tends to join such groups rarely further uphill in favour of following ants alone.