The lemon-spectacled tanager (''Chlorothraupis olivacea'') is a species of

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 family

Cardinalidae Cardinalidae (often referred to as the "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply the "cardinals") is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several birds such as the tanager-like ...

. It is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and

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 ...

where its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

, subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest 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 ...

, and heavily degraded former forest.

Description

The adult lemon-spectacled tanager is about in length. It is very similar in appearance to the

olive tanager The olive tanager (''Chlorothraupis carmioli''), also known as Carmiol's tanager, is a species of bird traditionally placed in the family Thraupidae (tanagers), though molecular evidence indicates it should be placed in Cardinalidae (cardinals). T ...

but the male is a rather darker shade of dull olive-green with the underparts have less yellow on the throat. The female is also similar to the female olive tanager, the underparts being yellowish-olive, and the only clear distinction between the two species is in the yellow eye-ring, possessed by both sexes of this species; the lemon-spectacled tanager also resembles the

ochre-breasted tanager The ochre-breasted tanager (''Chlorothraupis stolzmanni'') is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropic ...

, but that bird has a pale eye and the underparts are more ochraceous. The three species do not share common ranges; the lemon-spectacled tanager is native to western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, the ochre-breasted tanager occurs at higher elevations, and the olive tanager occurs further south in the eastern foothills of the Andes in southern Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, with a disjunct population in Central America.

Ecology

The lemon-spectacled tanager frequents the understorey of lowland wet forests and forest edges, seldom moving above and usually staying below . It often occurs in groups of up to four birds, but sometimes forms part of small mixed flocks where it often appears to be the flock leader. It is a noisy species with a loud call, often a rapidly repeated "treu-treu-treu-treu". It feeds on insects and some plant matter.

Status

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 ...

has rated this bird 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 ...

". Its population has not been quantified and may be declining slightly, but the bird has a very wide range and does not meet the criteria for being listed in a more-threatened category.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2630935 lemon-spectacled tanager Birds of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena lemon-spectacled tanager Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN