TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves (Feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrates)
Order: Passeriformes (passerines or perching birds) Toes; three pointing forward and one back.
Family: Thraupidae (Tanagers).
Genus/species: Tangara cayana
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Males of the cayana group (our group) have an orange-rufous crown, black mask, and cream underparts distinctly tinged blue on the throat and chest. Wings and tail are turquoise. Females are duller than the males, and have black restricted to a poorly demarcated “shadow” of a mask.
Length 13-14 cm (5.1-5.5 inches)
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Tropical to sub-tropical areas of South America. Favors tropical moist lowland forests, but also found in open terrain with scattered trees and cultivated areas.
DIET IN THE WILD: Mainly fruit.
VOCALIZATIONS: http://www.xeno-canto.org/explore?query=tangara+cayana
CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern due to an extremely large range.
References
California Academy of Sciences Rainforest 2017
Ron’s flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/3258665043/in/album-72157608454346681/
Cornell Ornithology http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/identification?p_p_spp=607916
Cornell (map) https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/nb/species/bubtan2/overview
Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/1052896/details
Ron’s WordPress shortlink http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-1u3
Ron's Critter of the Day 