Silver-throated Tanager

Overview

The silver-throated tanager (Tangara icterocephala) is a passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, although its population is declining due to habitat destruction.

Identification

• Average-sized tanager measuring 13 cm in length and weighing 22 grams.
• Males are mainly bright yellow with a silvery-white throat bordered above by a black stripe on the cheeks, while females are duller and greener.
• The back features black streaking on yellow, and wings and tail have green edges.
• Calls consist of insect-like buzzes, including harsh buzzy 'jjeut' and high-pitched 'bzeeet' sounds.

Habitat

Found from northern Costa Rica through Panama, Colombia, and Peru to southern Ecuador, mainly at elevations of 600–1,800 m but occasionally from sea level to 2,300 m. It inhabits mossy forests, montane forests, tropical lowland evergreen forests and forest edges, as well as tall secondary forests and disturbed habitats with remnant trees.

Diet

An omnivore that mainly feeds on fruits, especially melastomes such as those from the genus Miconia and Souroubea guianensis, supplemented with arthropods. It forages in the canopy, often hanging from upside-down branches to eat fruit, and gleans insects from small branches or moss-covered branches during the breeding season.

Did you know?

The species is the type host for the chewing louse Myrsidea icterocephalae and has been found to carry the parasitic alveolate Haemoproteus coatneyi in its blood.