The red-throated ant tanager (Driophlox fuscicauda) is a medium-sized passerine bird. This species is a resident breeder on the Caribbean slopes from southeastern Mexico to eastern Panama. It was formerly placed with the red-crowned ant tanager in the genus Habia. It was usually considered an aberrant kind of tanager and placed in the Thraupidae, but is actually closer to the cardinals (Cardinalidae). Consequently, it can be argued that referring to the members of this genus as ant tanagers is misleading, but no other common name has gained usage.
| Red-throated ant tanager | |
|---|---|
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| Male in Belize | |
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| Female in Costa Rica | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Cardinalidae |
| Genus: | Driophlox |
| Species: | D. fuscicauda
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| Binomial name | |
| Driophlox fuscicauda (Cabanis, 1861)
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Red-throated ant tanagers are 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weigh 40 g (1.4 oz). Adult males are dull dusky red, somewhat paler below, and with a bright red throat and central crown. The female is brownish olive, paler and greyer below, and with a yellow throat and small dull yellow crown stripe. Young birds are brown and lack the throat and crown patches.
Both sexes of this species are duller and darker than the related red-crowned ant tanager which occurs on the Pacific slope in its Central American range.
It occurs in thick undergrowth at the edge of forest, second growth or abandoned plantations at altitudes from sea level to 600 m (2,000 ft). The large but untidy cup nest is usually built 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) high in the fork of a shrub or tree, and is often decorated with living ferns. The normal clutch is two or three white eggs laid from April to June.
These birds are found in pairs or small groups. They eat insects, arthropods and fruit like those of Cymbopetalum mayanum (Annonaceae), and less often Trophis racemosa (Moraceae),[2] and will follow army ant columns especially in lowlands where antbirds are uncommon. The flock will give a defensive spread-wing-and-tail display to deter potential predators.
Six subspecies are recognised:[3]
- D. f. salvini (Berlepsch, 1883) – east Mexico to south Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and Honduras
- D. f. insularis (Salvin, 1888) – Yucatán Peninsula (southeast Mexico) and north Guatemala
- D. f. discolor (Ridgway, 1901) – northeast, central, east Nicaragua
- D. f. fuscicauda (Cabanis, 1861) – south Nicaragua to west Panama
- D. f. willisi (Parkes, 1969) – central Panama[4]
- D. f. erythrolaema (Sclater, PL, 1862) – north Colombia
References
edit- ^ BirdLife International (2020). "Habia fuscicauda". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22722416A136802331. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22722416A136802331.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ Foster, Mercedes S. (2007). "The potential of fruiting trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico". Bird Conservation International. 17 (1): 45–61. doi:10.1017/S0959270906000554.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2024). "Cardinals, grosbeaks and 'tanager' allies". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
- ^ Parkes, Kenneth C. (1969). "The red-throated ant-tanager (Habia fuscicauda) in Panama and Colombia". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 82: 233–241 [238].
External links
edit
- BirdLife species factsheet for Habia fuscicauda
- "Habia fuscicauda". Avibase.
- "Red-throated ant tanager media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Red-throated ant tanager photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Red throated ant-tanager species account at Neotropical Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
- Interactive range map of Habia fuscicauda at IUCN Red List maps
- Audio recordings of Red throated ant-tanager on Xeno-canto.
- Habia fuscicauda in Field Guide: Birds of the World on Flickr
