Black-and-white Tanager (Conothraupis speculigera)

Identification & Behavior: ~16 cm (6.3 in). The male Black-and-White Tanager is mostly black with a white belly. When perched it shows a white wing speculum that becomes a band when the wing is expanded. The female is green-olive above and yellowish with olive streaking below. Both sexes have a red iris. It breeds in the mature humid and semi-deciduous forest of northwest Peru and migrates to the foothill of the Andes and adjacent lowland. The male is similar to a Red-billed Pied Tanager and to the smaller Black-and-White Seedeater.

Status: The Black-and-White Tanager can be common during the breeding season in northwest Peru during the months of February through May. It migrates to the foothill of the eastern Andes and adjacent lowlands where it is generally rare. The Black-and-White Tanager also occurs in Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Tangara Negra y Blanca.

Sub-species: Black-and-white Tanager (Conothraupis speculigera), (Gould), 1855.

Meaning of Name: Conothraupis: Gr. Konos= cone and thraupis= unknown small bird, perhaps some sort of finch. In ornithology Thraupis signifies tanager. speculigera: L. speculum, speculi= mirror and gera =bearing, gerere= to carry.

See more of the Family Thraupidae