The emerald tanager (''Tangara florida'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

in the tanager

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Thraupidae 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 ...

. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama. Described by the English

ornithologists __NOTOC__ This is a list of ornithologists who have articles, in alphabetical order by surname. See also :Ornithologists. A * John Abbot – US *Clinton Gilbert Abbott – US *William Louis Abbott – US * Joseph H. Acklen – US *Humayun Abdul ...

PL Sclater and

Osbert Salvin Osbert Salvin FRS (25 February 1835 – 1 June 1898) was an English naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist best known for co-authoring ''Biologia Centrali-Americana'' (1879–1915) with Frederick DuCane Godman. This was a 52 volume encyc ...

in 1869, it is a medium-sized species that has a length of and a mass of . It can be identified by its bright green plumage, with black streaking on the back and wings, and a black auricular patch and beak. It also has yellow on the crown and rump. The species shows slight

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, with the females being duller and having yellow-green in place of yellow on the head. The emerald tanager mainly inhabits humid lowland forest,

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zone ...

, and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

at elevations of but can be found from . It is

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...

and feeds mainly on fruit, flowers, and flower buds, supplementing its diet with

arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

. It breeds from March to May in Costa Rica and from January to April in Colombia. The emerald tanager makes cup nests out of moss, where eggs are laid in

clutches A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

of two. It is listed as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

due to its sufficiently large range and a lack of significant population decline, but is threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The emerald tanager was first described as ''Calliste florida'' by the English

Philip Sclater Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...

and

in 1869, based on a female

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

from Costa Rica that was collected by Julian Carmiol. The name of the genus, ''Tangara'', comes from the

Tupí Tupí, also known as ''formatge de tupí'', is a fermented cheese of a certain area of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees made from cows' or sheep's milk. It is a cheese traditionally prepared in the mountainous Pallars region, as well as in the Cerda ...

word ''tangara'', meaning "dancer". The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''florida'' comes from the region of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Emerald tanager is the official

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

designated by the

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOU). The emerald tanager is one of 27 species in the genus ''Tangara'', a

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

genus of

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 ...

s. According to a 2004 study of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

by Kevin Burns and Kazuya Naoki, it belongs to a

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

that includes the

blue-whiskered tanager The blue-whiskered tanager (''Tangara johannae'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in the Chocó of Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat ...

, green-and-gold tanager,

golden tanager The golden tanager (''Tangara arthus'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is widespread and often common in highland forests of the Andes (from Bolivia and northwards) and Venezuelan Coastal Range in north-western South America. ...

silver-throated tanager The silver-throated tanager (''Tangara icterocephala'') is a species of passerine bird in the tanager Family (biology), family Thraupidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and northeastern Peru. It inhabits mossy forests, Mo ...

saffron-crowned tanager The saffron-crowned tanager (''Tangara xanthocephala'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. Found in the northern Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, it inhabits cloud forest, forest edges, and secondary forest, ...

golden-eared tanager The golden-eared tanager (''Tangara chrysotis'') is a species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in the eastern Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane for ...

, and

flame-faced tanager The flame-faced tanager (''Tangara parzudakii'') is a species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is endemic to South America and is found in the eastern Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical ...

. Out of these, it is most closely related to the silver-throated tanager. The following

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

shows

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

relationships within the species group based on the above study: The emerald tanager is recognized as

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

by the IOU. However, some authorities recognize populations from eastern Panama to Colombia and northwestern Ecuador as being a distinct subspecies, ''T. f. auriceps''.

Description

The emerald tanager is a medium-sized tanager with a length of and a mass of . Both sexes are similar in appearance, but the species shows slight

, with females being duller and having yellow-green instead of yellow on the head. It may be confused with the glistening-green tanager but can be told apart by its less intense plumage. It is also similar to the blue-whiskered tanager but can be distinguished by the latter's black face and throat and turquoise cheeks. Adults males are mostly bright light green, with black streaking on the

upperparts Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

. The loral area, the base of the bill, and chin, along with the auricular patch, are also black. The center and rear of the crown are dark yellow, while the rest of the crown, the region around the eye, and the band across the back of the neck are yellowish-green. The upper back is black, while the lower back,

rump Rump may refer to: * Rump (animal) ** Buttocks * Rump steak, slightly different cuts of meat in Britain and America * Rump kernel, software run in userspace that offers kernel functionality in NetBSD Politics *Rump cabinet * Rump legislature * Ru ...

, and uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

are dark yellow. The wings are black and green. The

underparts Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

are mostly light green, while the center of the belly and the undertail coverts are light yellow. The

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

is brown, the bill is black and the feet are bluish-gray. Immatures resemble adult females, while juveniles are much duller. Juvenile males gain plumage similar to that of adult females after their first

molt In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...

, while they gain adult male plumage after a second molt that occurs after their first breeding season.

Vocalizations

The emerald tanager makes a sharp ''chip'' or ''tsip'' which may be repeated and which occasionally accelerates into a rapid twitter. Its song is a series of loud ''cheet'' or ''chiip'' notes.

Distribution and habitat

The emerald tanager is found from southern Costa Rica to northern Ecuador; through Panama and Colombia. It may also be found in extreme southern

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. There are two disjunct populations, separated by an area between Panama and the San Juan River. Throughout its range, the emerald tanager is commonest at elevations of but is found at elevations of up to in Ecuador and as low as in Colombia. The average elevation inhabited is highest in the north of the range and is the lowest in the south. The emerald tanager inhabits humid lowland forest,

, and

. It is usually found in the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

and rarely strays to the

forest floor The forest floor, also called detritus, duff and the O horizon, is one of the most distinctive features of a forest ecosystem. It mainly consists of shed vegetative parts, such as leaves, branches, bark, and stems, existing in various stage ...

. It has also been observed in lone fruiting trees or shrubs next to forests. It prefers forested habitats to semi-open ones.

Behavior and ecology

The species has a generation length of 3.26 years.

Feeding

The emerald tanager is

. It mainly feeds on fruit, supplementing its diet with

, flowers, and flower buds. In Costa Rica, arthropods make up a greater proportion of the diet during the breeding season. The most commonly eaten fruits include those in the genera ''

Miconia ''Miconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the glory bush family, Melastomataceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species are mostly shrubs and small to medium-sized trees up to 15 m tall. The generic name ...

'', ''

Coussapoa ''Coussapoa'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Urticaceae. Its native range is Mexico, Central & Southern Tropical America. Species: *''Coussapoa angustifolia'' *''Coussapoa arachnoidea'' *''Coussapoa argentea'' *''Co ...

'', ''

Cecropia ''Cecropia'' is a Neotropical genus consisting of 61 recognized species with a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees. The genus consists of pioneer trees in the more or less humid parts of the Neotropics, with the majority of the speci ...

'', ''

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...

'', ''

Ilex ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The speci ...

'', '' Tetrochidium'', and '' Topobea''. The emerald tanager forages singly, in pairs, or small flocks of 3–7 individuals within larger mixed-species flocks consisting of other tanager species,

honeycreepers The typical honeycreepers form a genus ''Cyanerpes'' of small birds in the tanager family Thraupidae. They are found in the tropical New World from Mexico south to Brazil. They occur in the forest canopy, and, as the name implies, they are specia ...

, and

warblers Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

. It is active, occasionally moving about excitedly when foraging. Fruits are typically gleaned, while insects are mainly foraged from moss in the

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

of trees, with moss occasionally being torn apart during feeding to capture prey. The species has also been observed feeding on a swarm of

army ants The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limit ...

Breeding

The emerald tanager has varying breeding seasons in different areas, breeding from March to May in Costa Rica and from January to April in Colombia. Nests are made above the ground on moss-covered branches, at heights of . Nests are cup-shaped and made of moss. Eggs are laid in

of two. Breeding pairs have been observed carrying insects and fruit to nests.

Status

The emerald tanager is listed as being of

by the

(IUCN) on the

due to its sufficiently large range and a lack of significant population decline. However, its population, which is thought to be between 40,000 and 499,999 mature birds, is currently decreasing. The species is threatened by

and is already suffering locally due to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. Habitat destruction is an especially acute problem in areas that have steep changes in elevation, as it could lead populations becoming isolated and a reduction in

genetic diversity Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species. It is dis ...

(the variety in a population's genetic characteristics).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2637216 emerald tanager Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama Birds of the Colombian Andes Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes emerald tanager emerald tanager emerald tanager Taxonomy articles created by Polbot