Ron's Critter of the Day

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 mexicana

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: The adult takes its name from the turquoise face,  sides of the neck, and flanks. The upper parts are extensively black. The belly is a contrasting pale color, light yellow in Amazonia. Sexes are similar. T. mexicana has a long-tail and with a dark stout pointed bill.

Length 14 cm (5.5 inches)

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Trinidad, Colombia, and Venezuela, much of Brazil, and south to Bolivia. Found in the canopy of the rainforest, mangroves, open woodland and cultivated areas.

DIET IN THE WILD: Insects and fruit.

REPRODUCTION: Cup nest are made of dead grasses and leaves lined with fine roots on branches, high above the ground. Eggs are whitish, marked with grayish and brown spots. The clutch size is two-three with the female incubating them for 12-14 days.

Call and Map: xeno-canto www.xeno-canto.org/species/Tangara-mexicana?&view=3

CONSERVATION: IUCN Red List Least Concern (LC)

Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for vulnerable. Also has an extremely large range.

REMARKS: Call: sharp, twittering chirps.

References

California Academy of Sciences Rainforest 2017

Ron’s flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/3160948559/in/set-72157608454346681

IUCN Red List www.iucnredlist.org/details/22722807/0

Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/identification?p_p_spp=610636

Ron’s WordPress Shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-15N

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 cyanicollis

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Blue or violet hood, and broad black breast band, and greenish straw wing coverts. The posterior underparts are black, violet, or blue. The beaks, legs, and feet are black and juveniles are brownish gray. Coloration of adults varies slightly by region. They are monomorphic (males and females look similar).

Average length 12 cm (4.75 inches) and weigh 17 g (0.6 ounces).

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: T. cyanicollis range is discontinuous being found widely in foothill and lower montane forests in the eastern Andes between western Venezuela and central Bolivia. There is a separate population in the lowlands of southern Amazonian Brazil to northeastern Bolivia. Often it is described as a nonforest tanager and has been spreading due to deforestation.

SONG AND MAP   www.xeno-canto.org/explore?query=Tangara+cyanicollis

CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern (LC)
T. cyanicollisas has an extremely large range and the population trend appears to be stable. Often is described as a nonforest tanager and has been spreading due to deforestation.

References

California Academy of Science 2017

Cornell Lab of Ornithology neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/references?p…

IUCN Red List  www.iucnredlist.org/details/22722915/0

xeno-canto www.xeno-canto.org/explore?query=Tangara+cyanicollis

Ron’s flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/5976282811/in/set-72157608454346681/

Ron’s WordPress Shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-166

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: Sicalis flaveola

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Forehead and crown bright orange. Yellow head, greenish-yellow mantle and back, bright yellow underparts. Female duller above and lighter below. Black maxilla (upper beak), pale mandible (lower beak),
The legs are dark pink.

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Common in the South American tropics of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina. Found in open and semi-open forests and fields from lowland areas to 1850 m (6000 feet). Prefer drier areas; generally reside outside the Amazon basin.

DIET IN THE WILD: Forage in pairs or larger groups for seeds,
insects, and plant matter.

REPRODUCTION: Nest in tree hollows, though use nesting boxes in captivity. Female lays 3–4 white eggs; incubation, 12–14 days. Female incubates the eggs, male guards the nest. After eggs hatch, both parents feed the young, and fledging takes place in about 2 weeks.

REMARKS: Saffron finches are a favorite caged bird because of their handsome colors and pleasant song. Technically classified not a finch but as a tanager.

References

IUCN Red List www.iucnredlist.org/details/22723346/0

Finch Information Center www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/species/saffron_finch.php

Ron’s flickr   http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157608454346681/

Ron’s WordPress Shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-f9

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: Coereba flaveola

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Feathers on the dorsal side are dark gray. There is a white eyebrow stripe, white wing spot, and yellow breast, belly and rump. The throat can vary from white to black and the bill is down-curved. Monomorphic (males and females look similar). Small honeycreeper (length 4-5 inches).

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: West Indies, Caribbean mainland from Southern Mexico south to southern Brazil and northeast Argentina. Most commonly found at low elevations and rarely in the high mountainous forests in settled districts and secondary growth.

DIET: Primary food is from flowers for nectar.  Although it does use its sharp beak to pierce flowers from the side to feed, much like some hummingbirds, the Bananaquit cannot hover like a hummingbird. Also while clinging head downward; gleans small insects and spiders from foliage, or creeps over trunks and limbs searching for them.  Pollinates at least three species of Bromelioideae.

REPRODUCTION; The male and female build their own globe-shaped nests using leaves, grasses, and plant fibers from 5 to 30 feet above ground. Broods may contain from one to three white-cream color eggs.

LIFESPAN: 7 years in the wild.

CONSERVATION; IUCN RED LIST; Least Concern (LC)
Due to an extremely large range.

REMARKS: The highly successful Bananaquit inhabits basically every island in the Caribbean except for Cuba. On some islands in the West Indies an entirely sooty color morph is frequent.

Peurto Rico has adopted the Bananaquit as its national bird, and many Caribbean and South American countries have featured the bird on their postage stamps.

References

Encyclopedia of Life http://eol.org/pages/1178271/details

IUCN Red List  www.iucnredlist.org/details/22722080/0

Cornell Lab of Ornithology neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p…

Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org/accounts/Coereba_flaveola/

Ron’s WordPress Shortlink  wp.me/p1DZ4b-jv

Ron’s flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/4041293060/in/album-72157608454346681/