Speckled Tanager

Overview

The speckled tanager (Ixothraupis guttata) is a medium-sized passerine bird that serves as a resident breeder across parts of South and Central America. It is considered a close relative of the spotted tanager (Ixothraupis punctata), though the two species are generally allopatric.

Identification

• Adults measure 13.2 cm in length and weigh approximately 18 g, with similar plumage in both sexes.
• Upperparts are green with black spotting, while the underparts are white spotted with black.
• The face is yellow featuring a distinct black line extending from the eye to the gape, and the wings and tail are black edged with green.
• The flight call consists of a weak, metallic chirping tsip.
• The Trinidadian subspecies exhibits brighter, more extensive yellow on the head and more conspicuous black spotting.

Habitat

Found in Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad, Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, northern Brazil, and with sight records in French Guiana. This subtropical species prefers humid montane and secondary forest environments characterised by generally short trees and a dense understory.

Diet

Speckled tanagers are social birds that forage for food primarily consisting of fruit, supplemented by insects. They are frequently observed foraging in mixed groups with bay-headed tanagers and honeycreepers.

Did you know?

In 1998, a speckled tanager was discovered in the Serranía de los Churumbelos in Colombia, located just 160 km north of the known range of its relative, the spotted tanager, challenging assumptions about their strictly allopatric distribution.