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March 28, 2024

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No Time for Tuckerman -

Thursday, August 3, 2023

The Quitter Returns! -

Monday, March 21, 2022

Putting the goober in gubernatorial -

Friday, January 28, 2022

Return of Bird of the Week: Silver-throated Tanager

Silver-throated Tanager, Ecuador

Silver-throated Tanager, Ecuador

Not to be confused with the Silver-backedTanager or the Silver-beakedTanager, The Silver-throatedTanager is a bird of the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama and the cloud forests of the northern and central Andes in South America.

Silver-throated Tanager, Ecuador

Silver-throated Tanager, Ecuador

The bird’s plumage is unusual beyond the silver throat. Not many Tangaraspecies – the largest genus of Tanagers – have striping or barring, let alone a black line around  that fancy silvery bib. In  the tropics, where the variety of bird species can be bewildering, this bird is unmistakeable. There’s nothing like it.

There are three subspecies; these first two are probably icterocephala, the southernmost. This last is likely frantzii.

Silver-throated Tanager, Panama

Silver-throated Tanager, Panama

The species is an omnivore, eating insects, fruit and seeds. It’s readily attracted to fruit feeders.

Because this species has a wide distribution and tolerance for human-disturbed habitat it is not believed to be in immediate danger, but the limited data available suggest the population is declining.

For more bird photos, please visit Frozen Feather Images.

 

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