English            -            Ruby-crowned Tanager 

Portuguese     -            Tiê-preto

Latin                -             Tachyphonus coronatus

The Ruby-crowned Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family of birds.

The Ruby-crowned Tanager is a medium sized Neotropical tanager, and like most species in the genus Tachyphonus, males are primarily black with white underwing coverts and they have a scarlet patch on the centre of the crown that is usually hidden unless the crest is raised for displays etc, while females are dull olive or brown. Both sexes show a pale blue colour on the lower mandible. Their legs are thorn-grey to dark-grey to black. They are about 18cm in length and can weigh up to 29 grams. The Ruby-crowned Tanagers has a loud, melodious, and leisurely delivered sound with several phrases that are delivered repeatedly, usually with ch sounds.

The Ruby-crowned Tanager is found in the countries of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. It is commonly found on the edges of tropical lowland evergreen forests. It is also found at the edges of montane evergreen forests to about 1300 m and occasionally be found within secondary forests. It dwells along the edge of semi deciduous forests, in the moist broadleaf restinga forests, open woodland, forest fragments, thickets, timber plantations, and dense second growth forests.

The Ruby-crowned Tanager  is omnivorous and typically forages near the ground at forest edges, but will also feed mid story in trees. It feeds on fruits, seeds, flowers and insects. Will attend garden feeders with fruits if present.

The Ruby-crowned Tanager usually breeds in summer from late September to January. They build a cup shaped nest that can be up to 2 m off the ground. Often built in dense foliage such as thickets, coffee bushes, or new shoots of a tree stump. The nests are commonly built next to streams and consist of broad grass leaves and plant stems, lined with fine rootlets. The female lays between 2-3 eggs. The eggs have a whitish base colour tinged with salmon-pinkish or yellow with smudges of reddish-brown to chocolate-brown particularly at the large end. The eggs are incubated for around 13 days. Both parents feed the nestlings. The nestlings fledge 9 days after hatching.

The conservation status of the Ruby-crowned Tanager is listed by the IUCN Red List as a species “of Least Concern”. It received this classification due to its large estimated range. Although population sizes have not been quantified, it has been described as a common species and there is no evidence of population declines or major threats. It can also adapt and live in an array of habitats, plus it is a common species in numerous protected areas.

Photo No 1 was taken at Alfredo Chaves - Espírito Santo          

Photo No 2 was taken at Marechal Floriano - Espirito Santo