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Tangara (bird)

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Tangara
Flame-faced tanager, Tangara parzudakii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Tangara
Brisson, 1760
Type species
= Aglaia paradisea
Species

See text

Synonyms

Tangara is a large genus of birds of the tanager family. It includes 27 species.[1] All are from the Neotropics, and while most are fairly widespread, some have small distributions and are threatened. They are fairly small, ranging in size from 11.5–15 centimetres (4.5–5.9 in). This genus includes some of the most spectacularly colored birds of the world.

Taxonomy and species list

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The genus Tangara was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the paradise tanager (Tangara chilensis) as the type species.[2][3] The name means "dancer" in the extinct Tupi language.[4]

The genus formerly included additional species. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that many of the members of Thraupis was embedded within Tangara.[5] In the reorganization to create monophyletic genera, rather than merging Thraupis into Tangara to create an unusually large genus with around 58 species, taxonomists chose to split off species from Tangara into four other genera. Two of these genera were newly erected (Stilpnia, Poecilostreptus) and two were resurrected: they had been introduced earlier but were not in use (Ixothraupis, Chalcothraupis).[6][7]

The genus now contains 28 species:[6]

Image Common Name Scientific name Distribution
Blue-and-black tanager Tangara vassorii Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela
Beryl-spangled tanager Tangara nigroviridis Colombia through Ecuador and Peru to Bolivia
Spangle-cheeked tanager Tangara dowii Costa Rica and western Panama
Green-naped tanager Tangara fucosa Colombia and Panama
Blue-browed tanager Tangara cyanotis Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Rufous-cheeked tanager Tangara rufigenis Venezuela
Metallic-green tanager Tangara labradorides Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Bay-headed tanager Tangara gyrola Ecuador, Bolivia and southern Brazil, and on Trinidad
Rufous-winged tanager Tangara lavinia Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama
Golden-eared tanager Tangara chrysotis eastern Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
Saffron-crowned tanager Tangara xanthocephala northern Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Flame-faced tanager Tangara parzudakii eastern Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela
Blue-whiskered tanager Tangara johannae Colombia and Ecuador
Green-and-gold tanager Tangara schrankii eastern Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, central Bolivia, and northwestern Brazil
Golden tanager Tangara arthus Andes (from Bolivia and northwards) and Venezuelan Coastal Range in north-western South America
Emerald tanager Tangara florida Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama
Silver-throated tanager Tangara icterocephala Costa Rica, through Panama and western Colombia, to western Ecuador.
Seven-colored tanager Tangara fastuosa north-eastern Brazil
Green-headed tanager Tangara seledon south-eastern Brazil, far eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina
Red-necked tanager Tangara cyanocephala Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay
Brassy-breasted tanager Tangara desmaresti Brazil
Gilt-edged tanager Tangara cyanoventris Brazil
Plain-colored tanager Tangara inornata Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama
Turquoise tanager Tangara mexicana Trinidad, Colombia and Venezuela south to Bolivia and much of Brazil
White-bellied tanager Tangara brasiliensis east Brazil
Paradise tanager Tangara chilensis western and northern Amazon Basin in South America, it occurs in Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and the Guianas
Opal-crowned tanager Tangara callophrys southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru and a region of northwestern Bolivia; for Brazil
Opal-rumped tanager Tangara velia Amazon and Atlantic Forest of South America

Distribution and habitat

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These tanagers are mainly found high in forest canopies, but some occupy more open habitat. They are found at all elevations below tree line but are most diverse in the Andean subtropical and foothill forests of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Behaviour and ecology

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Breeding

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The female builds a usually well concealed cup nest and lays two brown- or lilac-speckled white eggs. These hatch in 13–14 days and the chicks fledge in a further 15–16 days. The male and female feed the nestlings on insects and fruit, and may be assisted by helpers.

Food and feeding

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Tangara tanagers pick insects from leaves, or sometimes in flight, but fruit is a major dietary item, accounting for 53-86% of food items in those species which have been studied.

References

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  1. ^ Sedano, R.E.; Burns, K.J. (2010). "Are the Northern Andes a species pump for Neotropical birds? Phylogenetics and biogeography of a clade of Neotropical tanagers (Aves: Thraupini)". Journal of Biogeography. 37 (2): 325–343. Bibcode:2010JBiog..37..325S. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02200.x. S2CID 53063036.
  2. ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1 p. 36 and Vol. 3 p. 3.
  3. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 359.
  4. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  5. ^ Burns, K.J.; Shultz, A.J.; Title, P.O.; Mason, N.A.; Barker, F.K.; Klicka, J.; Lanyon, S.M.; Lovette, I.J. (2014). "Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 75: 41–77. Bibcode:2014MolPE..75...41B. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006. PMID 24583021.
  6. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  7. ^ Burns, K.J.; Unitt, P.; Mason, N.A. (2016). "A genus-level classification of the family Thraupidae (Class Aves: Order Passeriformes)". Zootaxa. 4088 (3): 329–354. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4088.3.2. PMID 27394344.

Further reading

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  • ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2..
  • Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5..
  • Morton, Isler & Isler, Tanagers ISBN 0-7136-5116-4.
  • Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4.
[edit]
  • Media related to Tangara at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Tangara at Wikispecies
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