The Giant Conebill Oreomanes fraseri is a small passerine bird, one of the tanager

Tanager

The tanagers comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has an American distribution.There were traditionally about 240 species of tanagers, but the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux...

 family. The only member of the genus Oreomanes it is closely related to the regular conebills Conirostrum

Conirostrum

Typical conebills are the tanager genus Conirostrum. They are small tanagers found in the forests of South America. They feed in pairs or small flocks by gleaning insects from foliage....

though it differs in its larger size and nuthatch

Nuthatch

The nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs...

-like foraging

Foraging

- Definitions and significance of foraging behavior :Foraging is the act of searching for and exploiting food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce...

 habits.

The Giant Conebill is 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in length and weighs 22–27 g (0.776027166312463–0.952396976838023 oz). It is grey above, deep chestnut

Chestnut (color)

Chestnut, also known as Indian red, is a color, a medium brownish shade of red, and is named after the nut of the chestnut tree.As Indian red, it is named after the red laterite soil found in India. It is thus an earth tone as well as a red. It is composed of naturally occurring iron oxides. Other...

 below, and with a white patch on the cheeks. It is found in the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 from Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 to Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, and Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 to Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

. It lives in Polylepis

Polylepis

Polylepis is a genus containing about twenty species of shrubs or trees native to the mid- and high-elevation regions of the tropical Andes. This group is unique in the rose family in that it is predominantly wind-pollinated. They are usually gnarled in shape, but in certain areas some trees are...

trees of the family Rosaceae

Rosaceae

Rosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...

.

The Giant Conebill lives individually or in groups of 5 or less. It peels bark

Bark

Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...

 off Polylepis trees to find insects. It also eats aphids and sugary solutions secreted by Gynoxys

Gynoxys

Gynoxys is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It contains the following species:* Gynoxys acostae* Gynoxys azuayensis* Gynoxys baccharoides* Gynoxys campii* Gynoxys chagalensis* Gynoxys chimborazensis...

. The species is a seasonal breeder, nesting at the start of the rainy season (September to December in Bolivia where it has been studied). The nest

Bird nest

A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...

 is an open cup set on the branches of Polylepis, and the average clutch

Clutch (eggs)

A clutch of eggs refers to all the eggs produced by birds or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest.In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators, , results in double-clutching...

 size is 1.8 eggs

Bird egg

Bird eggs are laid by females and incubated for a time that varies according to the species; a single young hatches from each egg. Average clutch sizes range from one to about 17...

. Both parents incubate

Avian incubation

Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...

 the eggs, feed the chicks and remove the faecal sacs.

Its decline is attributed to the destruction and fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation as the name implies, describes the emergence of discontinuities in an organism's preferred environment , causing population fragmentation...

 of Polylepis woodland.

The binomial commemorates the British zoologist Louis Fraser

Louis Fraser

Louis Fraser was a British zoologist and collector. In his early years Fraser was Curator of the Museum of the Zoological Society of London. He participated in the Niger River Expedition as the African Civilization Society's scientist on Allen and Thomson's 1841–1842 Expedition. Upon his return he...

.

External links

• Bartley, G. (2009). Photo of the Giant Conebill.