White-shouldered Tanager

Overview

The white-shouldered tanager (Loriotus luctuosus) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, commonly found across Central and South America. It is a year-round resident known for its distinctive appearance and social feeding behaviour.

Identification

• Adult males are almost entirely glossy black with a prominent white patch on the shoulder formed by white wing coverts.
• Adult females have a gray head, bright olive-green upperparts, and yellow underparts with an olive tinge on the breast.
• The species measures 13 to 14 cm in length and weighs between 11.5 and 15 g, with a dark brown iris and a blackish bill featuring a slightly paler base.
• Its song is described as a thin, high 'seet-seet-seet' series, sometimes mixed with quick notes, and calls include a sharp, hissing 'tseer'.

Habitat

Found from Honduras to Panama, on Trinidad, and throughout most of mainland South America, the species inhabits mature secondary forest and the edges of primary forest. In the Amazon Basin, it is mostly located in terra firme and várzea forest, reaching elevations up to 1,500 m in Colombia.

Diet

The bird feeds primarily on insects and smaller amounts of fruits, usually in pairs, family groups, or mixed-species flocks. It forages energetically by hopping through foliage, especially tangles of vines, and snatching prey from perches or during short flutter-flights, mostly in the forest's middle level.

Did you know?

Breeding biology for this species is only known from Trinidad, where the breeding season includes at least April, June, and September. Their nests are deep cups made from grass and lined with finer fibers, typically placed in forest undergrowth between 1 and 1.5 m above the ground.