Cherrie's tanager (''Ramphocelus passerinii costaricensis'') is a medium-sized

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

. This

tanager The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropica ...

is a resident breeder in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

lowlands of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and western

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. This bird was formerly known as the scarlet-rumped tanager, but was split as a separate species from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

form, which was itself renamed as Passerini's tanager, ''Ramphocelus passerinii''. While most authorities had accepted this split, there were notable exceptions (e.g. the Howard and Moore checklist). It was lumped back into the Scarlet-rumped Tanager in 2018. Cherrie's tanager is very common from sea level to altitude, and occurs occasionally up to . The preferred habitat is semi-open areas including light second growth, woodland edges, gardens and pasture with bushes. The cup nest is built up to high in a tree. The normal clutch is two pale blue or grey eggs, marked with black, brown or lilac. This species will sometimes raise two broods in a season. The adult Cherrie's tanager is long and weighs . The adult male is mainly black except for a scarlet rump, silvery bill and dark red iris. The female has a grey head, olive upperparts, orange rump, brownish wings and tail, and ochre underparts with a broad orange breast band. The female plumage is the one that differs most from Passerini's tanager. Immatures resemble the adult female, but with a less orange breast. Cherrie's tanagers occur in pairs, small groups, or as part of a

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

, and up to a dozen birds may roost together in dense thickets at night. This species feeds on small

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

, usually swallowed whole,

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s. Cherrie's tanager's call is a sharp ''wac''. Its song consists of a few clear pleasant notes, delivered in longer phrases than that of its Caribbean relative. This bird is called Cherrie's tanager to honor the memory of American naturalist, explorer and adventurer George Cherrie. Dr. Cherrie accompanied former President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

in the famous 1913 exploration of the River of Doubt, in the Brazilian amazon basin, which was later named Rio Roosevelt.

References

* Stiles and Skutch, ''A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica''

External links

* * * * Cherrie's tanager Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama Cherrie's tanager Cherrie's tanager Isthmian–Pacific moist forests {{CentralAm-stub