White-shouldered Tanager (Islerothraupis luctuosa)

Identification & Behavior: ~14 cm (5.5 in). The male White-shouldered Tanager is all black with a large white shoulder patch. The female has a gray head and olive upperparts and yellow underparts. It forages in the canopy and sub-canopy of mature forests often in the company of mixed species flocks. The female is very similar to the female Yellow-crested Tanager but is smaller and overall has less saturated colors.

Status: The White-shouldered Tanager is common and widespread in Amazonia where it is known to range up to 1000 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in humid forest in extreme northwest Peru in Tumbes. The White-shouldered Tanager also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Tangara de Hombro Blanco.

Sub-species: White-shouldered Tanager (Islerothraupis luctuosus panamensis), Todd, 1917.   N Colombia  S on Pacific coast to W Ecuador and extreme NW Peru.
(Islerothraupis luctuosus luctuosus), d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye, 1837.   E Colombia to N & C Bolivia, and generally from SE Colombia, and Amazonian Brazil E to W Maranhão, S to Mato Grosso and W Goiás).

Meaning of Name: Islerothraupis: Isler= in honor of Morton L. Isler and Phyllis R. Isler US ornithologists. Gr. Thraupis= unidentified small bird, perhaps a type of finch, mentioned by Aristotle. luctuosus: L. luctus= mourning; luctuosus= mournful.

Formerly known as Tachyphonus luctuosus (2017).

See more of the Family Thraupidae