Black-cheeked Ant Tanager
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Size: 18-19 cm
Weight: 38-48.9 g
Colour Pattern/Description: The head of a Black-Cheeked Ant Tanager (Habia atrimaxillaris) is mostly blackish with a contrasting salmon throat. It has dark red irises, a black bill and dark horn legs. The males have a bright salmon-orange but partially concealed central crown-patch. Otherwise they have black head and dark grey upper parts that are tinged reddish. They have blackish wings and tail, and dusky red on the breast. Females are duller with a smaller crown-patch. The young are even duller than the females, are more brownish and lack the crown-patch.
Behaviour: The Black-Cheeked Ant Tanager is a Costa Rican endemic found in forest undergrowth, tall second growth, broken forests and streamside woodlands foraging for insects and occasionally fruit within its very small range. It occasionally joins mixed species foraging flocks or seen in larger groups, but is more often seen in small groups (1-3 individuals), presumed to be family members. Due to habitat loss and its small population size of less than 15,000 individuals that is believed to be declining.
Breeding takes place from mid-January to May.
Habitat: The Black-Cheeked Ant Tanager inhabits the understory of dense lowland forest, advanced secondary growth, streamside woodland, and occasionally selectively logged forest, palm trees and beach-front scrub. The Black-Cheeked Ant Tanager has a highly restricted range on the Osa Peninsula and around the Golfo Dulce in south-west Costa Rica. This range has approximately halved since 1960, and it has become increasingly scarce in the fragmented habitat outside Corcovado National Park and Golfito Faunal Refuge. However, populations appear stable in these protected areas, and it remains common in Corcovado.
Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Habia
Species: H. atrimaxillaris
Weight: 38-48.9 g
Colour Pattern/Description: The head of a Black-Cheeked Ant Tanager (Habia atrimaxillaris) is mostly blackish with a contrasting salmon throat. It has dark red irises, a black bill and dark horn legs. The males have a bright salmon-orange but partially concealed central crown-patch. Otherwise they have black head and dark grey upper parts that are tinged reddish. They have blackish wings and tail, and dusky red on the breast. Females are duller with a smaller crown-patch. The young are even duller than the females, are more brownish and lack the crown-patch.
Behaviour: The Black-Cheeked Ant Tanager is a Costa Rican endemic found in forest undergrowth, tall second growth, broken forests and streamside woodlands foraging for insects and occasionally fruit within its very small range. It occasionally joins mixed species foraging flocks or seen in larger groups, but is more often seen in small groups (1-3 individuals), presumed to be family members. Due to habitat loss and its small population size of less than 15,000 individuals that is believed to be declining.
Breeding takes place from mid-January to May.
Habitat: The Black-Cheeked Ant Tanager inhabits the understory of dense lowland forest, advanced secondary growth, streamside woodland, and occasionally selectively logged forest, palm trees and beach-front scrub. The Black-Cheeked Ant Tanager has a highly restricted range on the Osa Peninsula and around the Golfo Dulce in south-west Costa Rica. This range has approximately halved since 1960, and it has become increasingly scarce in the fragmented habitat outside Corcovado National Park and Golfito Faunal Refuge. However, populations appear stable in these protected areas, and it remains common in Corcovado.
Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Habia
Species: H. atrimaxillaris