Azure-rumped Tanager
Encyclopedia
The Azure-rumped Tanager, Tangara cabanisi is a Middle American bird of the family Thraupidae. It is a local resident in humid broadleaf forests and adjacent plantations of the Pacific slope of western Guatemala
and southern Chiapas
, Mexico. It has been reported at elevations 850 – 1900 m.
Its plumage is mostly pale blue, with a purplish-blue crown, distinctive dark spots across the chest, dark lores and lower auriculars. The mantle is mottled greenish-blue and black. The wings and tail are black with blue edgings. The bill is gray with a dark tip. Azure-rumped Tanagers utter several sibilant vocalizations, hard trill and twitters.
Azure-rumped Tanager is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and arthropods. In Guatemala, abundance was positvely correlated with the density of Ficus
aurea trees. Figs of that tree is a main food source. The nesting season ranges from April to September, during which Azure-rumped Tanagers move in pairs or family groups. Cooperative breeding has been reported. Outside the breeding season, larger flocks of up to 18 birds have been reported.
Azure-rumped Tanager is endangered because of deforestation
to clear the way for coffee
plantations. In Guatemala, only 21% or 25000 ha of the potential area of distribution are still covered with broadleaf forest, the tanager’s prima habitat. 80000 ha or 68% of the potential area of distribution is covered with coffee plantations. It is estimated that there are 8250-23250 birds left in Guatemala. For Chiapas there is no recent estimate, but in the 1980s there were 112000 ha of suitable habitat, which is expected to be much smaller now due to a growing human population and increased pressure by agricultural activities
This species was named honouring Jean Cabanis
.
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and southern Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
, Mexico. It has been reported at elevations 850 – 1900 m.
Its plumage is mostly pale blue, with a purplish-blue crown, distinctive dark spots across the chest, dark lores and lower auriculars. The mantle is mottled greenish-blue and black. The wings and tail are black with blue edgings. The bill is gray with a dark tip. Azure-rumped Tanagers utter several sibilant vocalizations, hard trill and twitters.
Azure-rumped Tanager is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and arthropods. In Guatemala, abundance was positvely correlated with the density of Ficus
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
aurea trees. Figs of that tree is a main food source. The nesting season ranges from April to September, during which Azure-rumped Tanagers move in pairs or family groups. Cooperative breeding has been reported. Outside the breeding season, larger flocks of up to 18 birds have been reported.
Azure-rumped Tanager is endangered because of deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
to clear the way for coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
plantations. In Guatemala, only 21% or 25000 ha of the potential area of distribution are still covered with broadleaf forest, the tanager’s prima habitat. 80000 ha or 68% of the potential area of distribution is covered with coffee plantations. It is estimated that there are 8250-23250 birds left in Guatemala. For Chiapas there is no recent estimate, but in the 1980s there were 112000 ha of suitable habitat, which is expected to be much smaller now due to a growing human population and increased pressure by agricultural activities
This species was named honouring Jean Cabanis
Jean Cabanis
Jean Louis Cabanis was a German ornithologist.Cabanis was born in Berlin. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1835 to 1839, and then travelled to North America, returning in 1841 with a large natural history collection. He was assistant and later director of the Berlin University Museum,...
.
Resources
- BirdLife InternationalBirdLife InternationalBirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
(2006) Species factsheet: Tangara cabanisi. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/6/2006 - Eisermann, K. (2011) Azure-rumped Tanager (Tangara cabanisi), Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=607116
- Eisermann, K., & C. Avendaño. (2007) Lista comentada de las aves de Guatemala - Annotated checklist of the birds of Guatemala. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.
- Eisermann, K., S. Arbeiter, G. López, C. Avendaño, and J. de León Lux. (2011) Distribution, habitat use, and implications for the conservation of the globally threatened Azure-rumped Tanager Tangara cabanisi in Guatemala. Bird Conservation International 21 (doi:10.1017/S0959270910000638).
- Eisermann, K., S. Arbeiter, G. López, C. Avendaño, J. de León Lux, A. Burge, A. de León Lux, & E. Buchán. (2011) Nesting ecology of the Endangered Azure-rumped Tanager (Tangara cabanisi) in Guatemala. Ornitología Neotropical 22: 39-57.
- Eisermann, K., G. López, J. Berry, J. de León Lux, and A. Burge. (2011) Vocalisations and juvenile plumage of Azure-rumped Tanager Tangara cabanisi. Cotinga OL 33: 46-49.
- Gómez de Silva, H. (1997) Further observations on the nesting of the Azure-rumped Tanager. Bulletin British Ornithologists’ Club 117: 16-18.
- Heath, M., & A. Long. (1991) Habitat, distribution and status of the Azure-rumped Tanager Tangara cabanisi in Mexico. Bird Conservation International 1: 223.254.
- Hilty, S. L., & D. Simon. (1977) The Azure-rumped Tanager in Mexico with comparative remarks on the Gray-and-gold Tanager. Auk 94: 605-606.
- Howell, S. N. G. & S. Webb (1995): A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York.
- Isler, M. L., & P. R. Isler. (1999) The tanagers: natural history, distribution and identification. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
- Long, A. J., & M. F. Heath. (1994) Nesting ecology and helping behaviour in the Azure-rumped Tanager in Mexico. Condor 96: 1095-1099.