Red-throated ant tanager | |
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Male in Belize | |
Female in Costa Rica | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Cardinalidae |
Genus: | Driophlox |
Species: | D. fuscicauda |
Binomial name | |
Driophlox fuscicauda (Cabanis, 1861) | |
The red-throated ant tanager (Driophlox fuscicauda) is a medium-sized passerine bird. This species is a resident breeder on the Caribbean slopes from southeastern Mexico to eastern Panama. It was formerly placed with the red-crowned ant tanager in the genus Habia. It was usually considered an aberrant kind of tanager and placed in the Thraupidae, but is actually closer to the cardinals (Cardinalidae). Consequently, it can be argued that referring to the members of this genus as ant tanagers is misleading, but no other common name has gained usage.
Red-throated ant tanagers are 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weigh 40 g (1.4 oz). Adult males are dull dusky red, somewhat paler below, and with a bright red throat and central crown. The female is brownish olive, paler and greyer below, and with a yellow throat and small dull yellow crown stripe. Young birds are brown and lack the throat and crown patches.
Both sexes of this species are duller and darker than the related red-crowned ant tanager which occurs on the Pacific slope in its Central American range.
It occurs in thick undergrowth at the edge of forest, second growth or abandoned plantations at altitudes from sea level to 600 m (2,000 ft). The large but untidy cup nest is usually built 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) high in the fork of a shrub or tree, and is often decorated with living ferns. The normal clutch is two or three white eggs laid from April to June.
These birds are found in pairs or small groups. They eat insects, arthropods and fruit like those of Cymbopetalum mayanum (Annonaceae), and less often Trophis racemosa (Moraceae), [2] and will follow army ant columns especially in lowlands where antbirds are uncommon. The flock will give a defensive spread-wing-and-tail display to deter potential predators.
Six subspecies are recognised: [3]
The golden-olive woodpecker is a species of bird in the subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found from Mexico south and east through Panama, in every mainland South American country except Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The red-crowned ant tanager is a medium-sized passerine bird from tropical America. It is the only species now placed in the genus Habia. This species was long placed with the tanagers (Thraupidae), but it is actually closer to the cardinals (Cardinalidae).
The flame-colored tanager, formerly known as the stripe-backed tanager, is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found from Mexico throughout Central America to northern Panama and occasionally in the United States; four subspecies are recognized. The flame-colored tanager is 18 to 19 cm long, the male having predominantly red-orange while the female is more yellowish orange.
The silver-throated tanager is a species of passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and northeastern Peru. It inhabits mossy forests, montane evergreen forests, tropical lowland evergreen forests and forest edges, along with tall secondary forests and disturbed habitat with remnant trees and forest. It is 13 centimetres (5.1 in) long and weighs 22 grams (0.78 oz) on average, and shows slight sexual dimorphism, with duller female plumage. Adult males are mainly bright yellow, with a silvery-white throat bordered above with a black stripe on the cheeks, black streaking on the back, and green edges to the wings and tail. Juveniles are duller and greener.
The ruddy woodcreeper is a passerine bird in subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found from southern Mexico to northern Colombia and extreme northern Venezuela.
The bright-rumped attila or polymorphic attila is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family (Tyrannidae). It breeds from northwestern Mexico to western Ecuador, Bolivia and southeastern Brazil, and on Trinidad.
The hepatic tanager is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of the genus Piranga are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae).
Carmiol's tanager is a species of bird in the cardinal family Cardinalidae that is found in Central America from Nicaragua southwards to northwest Colombia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest. It was formerly considered as conspecific with the yellow-lored tanager.
The tawny-winged woodcreeper is a passerine bird in subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The black-cheeked ant tanager is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is endemic to Costa Rica. It was formerly placed with the red-crowned ant tanager in the genus Habia.
The crested ant tanager is a bird in the family Cardinalidae that is endemic to Colombia. It was formerly placed with the red-crowned ant tanager in the genus Habia.
The sooty ant tanager is a species of bird in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). It was formerly placed with the true tanagers in the family Thraupidae and was assigned to the genus Habia with the red-crowned ant tanager.
The white-winged tanager is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found from Mexico, through Central America, across northern South America and as far south as Bolivia.
The rose-throated tanager is a medium-sized songbird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. Endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula in Central America, it is found in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. The male has greyish plumage with a deep rose throat and crown, while the female is similar but for a yellow crown and throat.
The emerald tanager is a species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama. Described by the English ornithologists PL Sclater and Osbert Salvin in 1869, it is a medium-sized species that has a length of 10.6–13 cm (4.2–5.1 in) and a mass of 18–20.5 g (0.63–0.72 oz). It can be identified by its bright green plumage, with black streaking on the back and wings, and a black auricular patch and beak. It also has yellow on the crown and rump. The species shows slight sexual dimorphism, with the females being duller and having yellow-green in place of yellow on the head.
The flame-faced tanager is a species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is endemic to South America and is found in the eastern Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is a distinctive-looking species with black and opalescent green upperparts, opalescent green and buff underparts, and a deep red and yellow face. The subspecies lunigera lacks the deep red on the face, which is replaced with orangish-red.
The olivaceous piculet is a species of bird in subfamily Picumninae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found from Guatemala south through Central America and western South America to Peru.
The gartered trogon, also known as the northern violaceous trogon, is a bird in the family Trogonidae, the quetzals and trogons. It is found in Mexico, all of Central America, and Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Cymbopetalum mayanum is a species of plant in family Annonaceae. The specific epithet mayanum refers to the Mayan region in which it is indigenous, specifically the Atlantic lowlands of Guatemala and Honduras. It grows as a tree. It is endangered due to habitat loss from agriculture.
Driophlox is a genus of passerine birds in the family Cardinalidae. The four species placed in this genus were formerly placed with the red-crowned ant tanager in the genus Habia.