The Brazilian tanager (''Ramphocelus bresilius'') 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 lightweig ...

in the 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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to eastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and far northeastern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, occurring in the coastal region from Paraíba and southwards to Santa Catarina and

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

. The Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

described the Brazilian tanager in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his '' Systema Naturae''. He coined the binomial name ''Tanagra bresilia''. It is now placed in the genus '' Ramphocelus'' which was introduced by the French zoologist Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1805. The Brazilian tanager is a typical member of the family, with a heavy bill and

sexually dimorphic 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 ...

plumage. It is long and weighs . The plumage of the male is bright red with black wings and a black tail. The bill is black above and pale below. The female is mostly grey-brown with a brown-red belly and breast.Hilty, S. (2017). Brazilian Tanager (''Ramphocelus bresilius''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/61629 on 15 March 2017). A

frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance an ...

bird, it is easily found in its natural

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

wherever there is food enough available, tending to behave aggressively towards other species of birds when disputing for food. Its habitats include shrubby areas that are not forested, including coastal scrub, forest clearing and edge, swamps, gardens, and city parks. The species has declined in some areas due to trapping for the caged bird trade, but it is tolerant of disturbed habitats and is not considered to be threatened with extinction. The Brazilian tanager is omnivorous, taking pulpy fruits, seeds and insects. It nests by building a cup-shaped

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

hidden amongst foliage, where it lays two to three greenish-blue, black-spotted eggs.

References

*PEREIRA, José Felipe Monteiro Pereira, ''Aves e Pássaros Comuns do Rio de Janeiro'', Rio de Janeiro: Technical Books, 2008, , page 123. {{Taxonbar, from=Q671550 Brazilian tanager Birds of Brazil Birds of the Atlantic Forest Brazilian tanager Brazilian tanager Taxonomy articles created by Polbot