Bay-headed Tanager (Tangara gyrola)

Identification & Behavior: ~13.5 cm (5.3 in). The male Bay-headed Tanager has a chestnut head and green back and tail. The throat and rest of the underparts are blue. The female is a dull version of the male. It primarily forages in the canopy of mature forests in pairs and often along with mixed species flocks. Its plumage is unique but see a Yellow-bellied Tanager.

Status: The Bay-headed Tanager is uncommon but widespread in Amazonia where it is known to range up to 1700 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in humid forest on extreme northwest Peru in Tumbes. The Bay-headed Tanager also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Tangara de Cabeza Baya.

Sub-species: Bay-headed Tanager (Tangara gyrola nupera), Bangs, 1917.  SW Colombia (Nariño S of Patía Valley), W Ecuador and NW Peru (Tumbes).
(Tangara gyrola catharinae), (Hellmayr), 1911.  E base of E Andes of Colombia (from Meta and Macarena Mts) S to E Ecuador, E Peru and Bolivia (S to Cochabamba and W Santa Cruz).
(Tangara gyrola parva), J. T. Zimmer, 1943.  S Venezuela (SW Amazonas), adjacent E Colombia, and mountains of adjacent N Brazil (upper R Negro).

Meaning of Name: Tangara: Tupí name, Tangara= dancer, one who turns and skips, originally used for the manakins, but subsequently (Marcgrave 1648) transferred to other bright finch-like birds.
gyrola: L. gyrus= ring, circle alternatively Gr. Guros= bangle, ring.

See more of the Family Thraupidae