Guira Tanager

Overview

The guira tanager is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae found throughout mainland South America, excluding Chile and Uruguay. It is classified as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with an extremely large range and no identified immediate threats, though its population is believed to be decreasing.

Identification

• Males exhibit a yellowish olive-green forecrown, back, and tail, with a black face and throat separated by a yellow supercilium, and rufous orange or burnt orange breast and rump.
• Females possess an olive-green head and upperparts with underparts that are mostly pale yellow or yellowish green, featuring gray flanks and a grayish white belly.
• The bird is small, measuring 13 to 14 cm in length, and has a dark brown iris, a horn-black upper bill, a dark yellow lower bill, and leaden gray legs.
• Dawn song consists of a 'TIT-de-de DIT TIT TIT, tit-de-de-dit dit' sequence, while day songs include rapid nasal 'chees' or 'chuts' and sharp, incisive 'sa-sit-sit' notes.

Habitat

The guira tanager primarily inhabits tropical evergreen forest in the lowlands but also occurs in dryer to moist forest, secondary forest, woodlands, coffee and cacao plantations, and clearings with trees. It ranges across most of mainland South America, inhabiting elevations up to 1,500 m in several countries, and includes coastal mangroves in extreme northwestern Peru.

Diet

This bird feeds on arthropods such as insects and spiders, as well as fruit like Miconia berries. It forages in the forest canopy in pairs and family groups, almost always as a member of a mixed-species feeding flock, and takes most arthropod prey by gleaning from foliage.

Did you know?

The specific epithet 'guira' is a Guaraní word meaning 'bird'. There is one recorded case of brood parasitism by a shiny cowbird on this species.