Sooty-capped Bush Tanager
A species of Chlorospinguses Scientific name : Chlorospingus pileatus Genus : Chlorospinguses
Sooty-capped Bush Tanager, A species of Chlorospinguses
Botanical name: Chlorospingus pileatus
Genus: Chlorospinguses
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Francesco Veronesi , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
The sooty-capped bush tanager or sooty-capped chlorospingus (Chlorospingus pileatus) is a small passerine bird traditionally placed in the family Thraupidae, but now viewed closer to Arremonops in the Passerellidae. This bird is an endemic resident breeder in the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. The sooty-capped bush tanager is found in mossy mountain forests, second growth and adjacent bushy clearings, typically from 1600 m altitude to above the timberline. The bulky cup nest is built on bank, in a dense bush, or hidden amongst epiphytes up to 11 m high in a tree. The normal clutch is two pink-brown eggs marked with white. The adult sooty-capped bush tanager is 13.5 cm long and weighs 20g. The adult has a blackish head with a white supercilium and a grey throat. It has olive upperparts and yellow underparts, becoming white on the belly. Some individuals in the Irazu-Turrialba area are greyer and lack yellow in the underparts. Immatures are browner-headed, duller below, and have a duller olive-tinged supercilium. This species is easily distinguished from common bush tanager by its blacker head and obvious supercilium. Sooty-capped bush tanagers occur in small groups, or as part of a mixed-species feeding flock. This species feeds on insects, spiders and small fruits. The sooty-capped bush tanager's call is a high tseet tseet, and the song is a scratchy seechur seechur see see seechur seechur with variations.
Size
14 cm
Feeding Habits
Sooty-capped Bush Tanager consumes a varied diet of small arthropods and fruits, foraging actively in understory vegetation. It exhibits distinctive preferences or adaptations for extracting food from its environment.
Habitat
Sooty-capped Bush Tanager predominantly inhabits moist montane and elfin forests, often in areas with abundant moss. It is also found in tall secondary growth and sometimes in patches of woodland surrounded by pastures, particularly when these patches are close to larger forests. Additionally, sooty-capped Bush Tanager can be found in shrubby páramo ecosystems. This bird typically occupies elevations ranging from approximately 1,500 to 2,850 meters, preferring higher altitudes within its range.
Dite type
Omnivorous
General Info
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Photo By Francesco Veronesi , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
New world sparrows Genus
Chlorospinguses Species
Sooty-capped Bush Tanager