Flame-crested tanager

Appearance

The flame-crested tanager grows to a length of about 15 cm and a weight of around 20 g . The male has a black head, small orangeish-red bib and a moderate-sized orangish crest. The upper parts are slatey-black with a golden-buff rump, and the upper wing-coverts bear a large patch of white. The underparts are dark brownish-black. The female is similar in appearance to the white-winged shrike-tanager but is more brown above with buff-ochre rather than yellowish-ochre underparts.

Distribution

This species is native to lowland forest in the northern half of South America. There are two disjunct populations, the larger covering most of the Amazon Basin in Brazil, southern parts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, and eastern parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The separate part of the range is occupied by the subspecies ''T. c. brunneus'' and covers a coastal strip of Brazil from Recife to Curitiba.

Status

''T. cristatus'' is a fairly common species with a very wide range. The population has not been quantified but the trend seems steady, and the total population is presumed to be large. For these reasons, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated the conservation status of the bird as being of "least concern".

Habitat

This species is native to lowland forest in the northern half of South America. There are two disjunct populations, the larger covering most of the Amazon Basin in Brazil, southern parts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, and eastern parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The separate part of the range is occupied by the subspecies ''T. c. brunneus'' and covers a coastal strip of Brazil from Recife to Curitiba.