The beryl-spangled tanager (''Tangara nigroviridis'') is a small

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds ( Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 50 ...

of the northern

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Taxonomy

First described by

Frédéric de Lafresnaye Baron Nöel Frédéric Armand André de Lafresnaye (24 July 1783 – 14 July 1861) was a French ornithologist and collector. Lafresnaye was born into an aristocratic family at Chateau de La Fresnaye in Falaise, Normandy. He took an early int ...

in 1843, the beryl-spangled tanager is one of dozens of tanager species in the genus ''Tangara''.

Description

It is a small songbird, measuring in length. Its plumage is largely turquoise, though heavily marked with black spots and scales. Its breast and belly are primarily black, with opalescent greenish spotting.

Habitat and distribution

The beryl-spangled tanager is found on the eastern slopes of the

from Venezuela, though Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to Bolivia. In Ecuador, it is found at elevations ranging from , while in Peru it ranges somewhat higher – from . It occurs in humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...

and second growth.

References

* Robert Ridgely & Guy Tudor, Birds of South America Vol. 1 (Univ. Texas Press, 1989). beryl-spangled tanager Birds of the Northern Andes beryl-spangled tanager {{Thraupidae-stub