Azure-rumped Tanager

Overview

The azure-rumped tanager, also known as Cabanis's tanager, is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is classified as Vulnerable due to habitat loss from deforestation for coffee plantations.

Identification

• Plumage is mostly pale blue with a purplish-blue crown, dark lores and lower auriculars, and distinctive dark spots across the chest.
• The mantle is mottled greenish-blue and black, while the wings and tail are black with blue edgings.
• The bill is grey with a dark tip.
• Vocalisations include sibilant sounds, hard trills, and twitters.

Habitat

This species is a local resident in humid broadleaf forests and adjacent plantations on the Pacific slope of western Guatemala and southern Chiapas, Mexico. It has been reported at elevations ranging from 850 to 1,900 m.

Diet

Omnivorous in nature, it feeds on fruit and arthropods. In Guatemala, its abundance is positively correlated with the density of Ficus aurea trees, whose figs are a main food source.

Did you know?

Cooperative breeding has been reported among azure-rumped tanagers, particularly during the nesting season which lasts from April to September.