Blue-browed Tanager (Tangara cyanotis)

Identification & Behavior: ~12 cm (5 in). The Blue-Browed Tanager has black upperparts with a broad blue eyebrow and blue shoulder patch. The underparts and rump are opalescent blue. The center of the belly, vent and undertail coverts are rufous-brown. It forages in second growth, and the canopy of mature montane forest often in the company of mixed species flocks. It is similar to the Metallic-Green  Tanager but is distinguished by having black sides of the head.

Status: The Blue-Browed Tanager is uncommon to rare in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 900-1950 m double check altitude. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Tangara de Ceja Azul.

Sub-species: Blue-browed Tanager (Tangara cyanotis lutleyi), Hellmayr, 1917.  S Colombia (head of Magdalena Valley in Huila, and E slope of Andes from W Putumayo) S through Ecuador and Peru (to Cuzco).
(Tangara cyanotis cyanotis), P. L. Sclater, 1858.  Bolivia (E slope of Andes in La Paz and Cochabamba).

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.
cyanotis: Gr. Kuanos= dark-blue and otis, otos= eared, ear.

See more of the Family Thraupidae