Fulvous-crested Tanager (Tachyphonus surinamus)

Identification & Behavior: ~16.5 cm (6.4 in). The male Fulvous-crested Tanager is black with a fulvous crest. It has a tawny rump that grades into red towards the flanks.  It has a white patch under the wing on the shoulder area. The female is olive above and yellow-brown below. The head is gray with a characteristic broken yellow eyering. It forages in the mid-story of mature forest in pairs and in the company of mixed species flocks. The female is similar to a female Yellow-crested Tanager but is distinguished by the broken yellow eyering.

Status: The Fulvous-crested Tanager is uncommon in the northern half of Amazonia where it is known to range up to 750 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Br.

Name in Spanish: Tangara de Cresta Leonada.

Sub-species: Fulvous-crested Tanager (Tachyphonus surinamus brevipes), Lafresnaye, 1846.  SE Colombia (from Meta and Guainía) and S Venezuela (SW Amazonas) S to E Ecuador, NE Peru (N of R Amazon and R Marañón) and NW Brazil N of Amazon.
(Tachyphonus surinamus napensis), Lawrence, 1864.  E Peru S of R Marañón (S to R Ucayali) and W Brazil S of R Amazon (E to Acre and R Juruá).

Meaning of Name: Tachyphonus: Gr takhus= fast and phoneo= to speak. Takhuphonos= fast speaking. surinamus: Surinam or Suriname, after indigenous people, the Surinen.

See more of the Family Thraupidae