Green-and-black Fruiteater (Pipreola riefferii)

Identification & Behavior: ~18.5 cm (7.2 in). The male Green and Black Fruiteater has green upperparts with a black hood and bib bordered by yellow. The underparts are heavily scaled with green on a yellow “backdrop” (northern Peru) or yellow center of the underparts bordered green scaling and red iris (Carpish-Huanuco, tallmanorum). The female has green upperparts with a green head and yellow underparts streaked with green. Both sexes have a red bill and legs. It forages in the canopy of the sub-canopy of humid montane forests. It is distinguished by the similar Band-tailed Fruiteater by having a green tail with no markings.

Status: The Green and Black Fruiteater is common in montane forests of the east slope of the central and northern Andes at elevations ranging between 1200-2900 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Frutero Verde y Negro.

Sub-species: Green-and-black Fruiteater (Pipreola riefferii confusa), J. T. Zimmer, 1936.  E Andes of Ecuador and extreme N Peru (W Amazonas).
(Pipreola riefferii chachapoyas), (Hellmayr), 1915.   N Peru E of R Marañón (in Amazonas and San Martín).
(Pipreola riefferii tallmanorum), O’Neill and T. A. Parker, 1981.  Carpish Mts and Cerros de Sira, in Huánuco (Peru).

Meaning of Name: Pipreola: A variation on Pipra in order to indicate affinity” (Snow 1982). riefferii: In honor of Gabriel Rieffer (fl. 1840) French explorer, collector in tropical America.

See more of the Family Cotingidae