The white-bellied tanager (Tangara brasiliensis) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is a resident bird of the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil. It is restricted to areas with humid forest. It was formerly considered as a subspecies of the turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana).
| White-bellied tanager | |
|---|---|
_-_White-bellied_Tanager_(cropped).jpg)
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Thraupidae |
| Genus: | Tangara |
| Species: | T. brasiliensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Tangara brasiliensis (Linnaeus, 1766)
| |
| |
| Range in Brazil | |
Taxonomy
editThe turquoise tanager was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tanagra brasiliensis.[2] His description was based on Mathurin Jacques Brisson's Le tangara blue de Brésil that Brisson had described and illustrated in 1760.[3] The type locality is Rio de Janeiro.[4] The white-bellied tanager is now placed in the genus Tangara that was introduced by Brisson.[5][6]
The white-bellied tanager was formerly treated as a subspecies of the turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana).[6]
Description
editAdult birds are 14 cm (5.5 in) long. They are long-tailed and with a dark stout pointed bill. The adult is mainly dark blue and black, with turquoise edging to the primaries. It differs from the turquoise tanager in that it is larger, has an overall more silvery blue plumage, blue edging to the primaries and a white belly.[7] The song is a fast squeaky chatter tic-tic-tic-tic-tic.
Behaviour
editIt occurs in forest, woodland and cultivation. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree or shrub, and the female incubates three brown-blotched grey-green eggs.
These are social birds usually found in groups. They eat a wide variety of fruit and also take insects and other arthropods,[8] often gleaned from twigs.
References
edit- ^ BirdLife International (2017) [amended version of 2016 assessment]. "Tangara brasiliensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T103849764A119486281. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 316.
- ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 3. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 9–12, Plate 1 fig. 4.
- ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 361.
- ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1 p. 36 and Vol. 3 p. 3.
- ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ Ridgely, Robert S.; Tudor, Guy (2009). Birds of South America: Passerines. Helm Field Guides. London: Christopher Helm. p. 595. ISBN 978-1-408-11342-4.
- ^ "The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-08-18.