Bulletin 279 - Colombia #2 - Tanagers

The tanagers are a huge new world family and many are very colorful. I saw many of them on this trip to Colombia and here is the first group.

Pablo Florez, the main guide, has co-written a book where to bird in Colombia. In it, he has a list of the Top 30 Most Sought-after Birds by a group of 40 birders visiting Colombia. I saw 12 of them on the trip and got photos of 10. When I show one of these birds,  I will mention its placement on the list.

So here is the first of the top 30 birds, the elusive the 8" Tanager Finch (Oreothraupis arremonops). It is #21 of 30 on the list. We actually had a small group of 4 birds and this one sat still for many minutes allowing multiple photographs. It is rusty orange with a black head and white stripe across it. It is listed as vulnerable.

Tanager Finch

The mountain tanagers are larger tanagers usually about 7" in length. I saw 3 differernt species on the trip as almost the whole trip was in the Andes. The 7" Lacrimose Mountain Tanager (Anisognathus lacrymosus) is slate gray above and mustard yellow below and it has a yellow tear below the eye.

Lacrimose Mountain Tanager

The 7" Black-chinned Mountain Tanager (Anisognathus notabilis) has a black head with a yellow crown patch and golden underparts.

Black-chinned Mountain Tanager

The 9" Hooded Mountain Tanager (Bauthraupis montana) has a black head, yellow underparts and distinctive red eye.

Hooded Mountain Tanager

There were a couple of green colored tanagers found on the trip. The large 7" Grass-green Tanager (Chlorornis riefferii) is all green except for a chestnut face and undertail. It also has a red bill and legs.

Grass-green Tanager

The 5" Glistening-green Tanager (Chlorochrysa phoenicotis) is an oily green color with a small yellow ear patch.

Glistening-green Tanager

The ramphocelus genus of tanagers are manly black and red. The 6.5" male Flame-rumped Tanager (Ramphocelus flammigerus) is black with an orange red-rump. It is endemic to Colombia.

Flame-rumped Tanager - male

The 6.75" Crimson-backed Tanager (Ramphocelus dimidiatus) is mostly red with black wings.

Crimson-backed Tanager - male

I have photographs now of 97 of the 370 tanager species and you can see them all here.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2016 David McDonald

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