flame-rumped tanager (male)

Description:

spotted in Sachatamia lodge near Mindo around 9000ft. Males are mostly black with lower back, rump and uppertail coverts either lemony yellow (subspecies icteronotus) or the same area warmer yellow to orange, crimson, or scarlet (subspecies flammigerus). The birds with less scarlet have been interpreted as hybrids or intergrades. Male of the yellow-rumped subspecies icteronotus Photo by Stanley Jones Canopy Lodge in El Valle de Antón, Coclé Province, Panama. February 2011 Females are mostly olive-grey above and in head, yellow below and on lower back and rump; subspecies differ in tone with icteronotus showing a rather cold lemony yellow, flammigerus a warmer yellow that can approach orange. The majority of flammigerus females show a reddish-orange band across the lower throat.

Habitat:

Western Panama, Colombia and extreme western Ecuador at low to middle elevations. primary forest and edges, second growth, overgrown areas, gardens and parks. Subspecies icteronotus seems excluded from the primary forest.

Notes:

Feeds on fruit, invertebrates, etc. Mostly occur in small flocks.