The red-throated ant tanager (''Habia fuscicauda'') is a medium-sized
passerine bird. This
species is a resident breeder on 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 ...
slopes from southeastern
Mexico to eastern
Panama. It was usually considered an aberrant kind of
tanager and placed in the Thraupidae, but is actually closer to the cardinals (
Cardinalidae). Consequently, it can be argued that referring to the members of this genus as ant tanagers is misleading, but no other
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 ...
has gained usage.
Red-throated ant tanagers are long and weigh . Adult males are dull dusky red, somewhat paler below, and with a bright red throat and central crown. The female is brownish olive, paler and greyer below, and with a yellow throat and small dull yellow crown stripe. Young birds are brown and lack the throat and crown patches.
Both sexes of this species are duller and darker than the related
red-crowned ant tanager
The red-crowned ant tanager (''Habia rubica'') is a medium-sized passerine bird from tropical America. The genus '' Habia'' was long placed with the tanagers (Thraupidae), but it is actually closer to the cardinals ( Cardinalidae). Consequently, ...
which occurs on the
Pacific slope in its
Central American range.
It occurs in thick undergrowth at the edge of forest, second growth or abandoned plantations at altitudes from sea level to . The large but untidy
cup nest is usually built high in the fork of a shrub or tree, and is often decorated with living
ferns. The normal clutch is two or three white eggs laid from April to June.
These birds are found in pairs or small groups. They eat
insects,
arthropods and fruit like those of ''
Cymbopetalum mayanum
''Cymbopetalum mayanum'' is a species of plant in family Annonaceae. The specific epithet ''mayanum'' refers to the Mayan region in which it is indigenous, specifically the Atlantic lowlands of Guatemala and Honduras. It grows as a tree. ...
'' (
Annonaceae), and less often ''
Trophis racemosa'' (
Moraceae),
[ and will follow army ant columns especially in lowlands where antbirds are uncommon. The flock will give a defensive spread-wing-and-tail display to deter potential predators.
There are six known subspecies:][
* ''H. f. salvini'' – ( von Berlepsch, 1883): found from eastern Mexico to ]El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
* ''H. f. insularis'' – ( Salvin, 1888): found in the Yucatan Peninsula (southeastern Mexico) and northern Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
* ''H. f. discolor'' – ( Ridgway, 1901): found in northeastern, central and eastern Nicaragua
* ''H. f. fuscicauda'' – (Cabanis Cabanis is the surname of:
* George Cabanis (1815-1892), American politician
*Jean Cabanis (1816–1906), German ornithologist
* José Cabanis (1922–2000), French writer, historian and magistrate
*Pierre Jean George Cabanis
Pierre Jean Georges ...
, 1861): nominate, found from southern Nicaragua to western Panama
* ''H. f. willisi'' – Parkes, 1969: found in central Panama
References
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1588596
red-throated ant tanager
Birds of Central America
Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula
Birds of Colombia
red-throated ant tanager