The white-capped tanager (''Sericossypha albocristata'') is a South American bird in the tanager family

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 the only member of the genus ''Sericossypha ''. It is the heaviest but not the longest species of tanager, at a weight of 114 g (4 oz) and a length of 24 cm (9.5 in). This species is glossy black overall with a large white crown and a red throat (which is brightest in adult males). It occurs in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru at elevations of 1600–3200 m. It lives in humid

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

forest in groups of up to 20 individuals. Flocks of these tanagers stay in tight formation, often foraging from tree to tree together. They may eat fruits, seeds,

hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

, and

coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

Taxonomy

The white-capped tanager was formally described in 1843 by the French ornithologist

Frédéric de Lafresnaye Baron Nöel Frédéric Armand André de Lafresnaye (24 July 1783 – 14 July 1861) was a French ornithologist and collector. Lafresnaye was born into an aristocratic family at Chateau de La Fresnaye in Falaise, Calvados, Falaise, Normandy. He ...

under the Latin name ''Tanagra (Lamprotes) albo-cristatus''. The species is now the only species placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Sericossypha'' that was introduced in 1844 by

René Lesson René-Primevère Lesson (20 March 1794 – 28 April 1849) was a French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist. Biography Lesson was born at Rochefort, and entered the Naval Medical School in Rochefort at the age of sixteen. He ...

. The genus name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''sērikos'' meaning "silken" with ''kossuphos'' meaning "blackbird". The specific epithet ''albocristata'' is formed from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''albus'' meaning "white" with ''cristatus'' meaning "crested" or "plumed". The species is

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 ...

: no

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised.

References

white-capped tanager The white-capped tanager (''Sericossypha albocristata'') is a South American bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Sericossypha ''. It is the heaviest but not the longest species of tanager, at a weight of 11 ...

Birds of the Northern Andes

{{Thraupidae-stub

Taxonomy

See also

References