Rufous-chested Tanager (Thlypopsis ornata)

Identification & Behavior: ~13.3 (5.2 in). The Rufous-chested Tanager is orange-rufous with a white center of the belly. The back is brownish. The immature is a dull version of the adult. It forages in a variety of habitats including Andean scrub and shrubbery in the edges of humid forests, in pairs or along with mixed species flocks. It is similar to the Brown-flanked Tanager whose ranges locally overlaps in central Peru.

Status: The Rufous-chested Tanager is uncommon in montane forests, and scrub on both slopes of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1600-3400 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Tangara de Pecho Rufo.

Sub-species: Rufous-chested Tanager (Thlypopsis ornata media) J. T. Zimmer, 1930.  E slope of Andes in extreme S Ecuador (Morona-Santiago and Zamora-Chinchipe; also specimen from E Carachi) and Peru (S on W slope to Lima; locally E slope from Cajamarca S to Marañón Valley).
(T. o. macropteryx), Berlepsch and Stolzmann, 1896.  E slope of Andes in Peru (Junín; isolated records S to Cuzco).

Meaning of Name: Thlypopsis: Gr. Thlupis= unknown small bird, perhaps a finch or a warbler, and opsis= appearance. ornata: L. ornatus, ornate=, adorned, decorated, splendid.

See more of the Family Thraupidae