The crested ant tanager (''Driophlox cristata'') is a bird in the family

Cardinalidae Cardinalidae (sometimes referred to as "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply "cardinals") is a family of New World-Endemism, endemic passerine birds that consists of Cardinalis, cardinals, grosbeaks, and Passerina, buntings. It also includes several ot ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. It was formerly placed with the red-crowned ant tanager in the genus ''Habia''.

Taxonomy and systematics

The crested ant tanager was originally placed in family

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family (biology), family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12 ...

, the "true" tanagers. In the early 2000s, DNA analysis revealed that all the members of ''Habia'' were more closely related to the cardinals, so they were moved to family ''Cardinalidae''.Hilty, S. (2020). Crested Ant-Tanager (''Habia cristata''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.cratan1.01 retrieved May 14, 2021 The crested ant tanager is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Description

The crested ant tanager is approximately long. The male's head is dusky red with a prominent scarlet crest. The rest of the upper parts fade from red on the shoulders through dark crimson to brownish red at the rump. The throat and chest are bright red and the rest of the underparts gray, some with a red tinge. The female is similar though duller and with less gray, and its crest is smaller. The immature does not have a crest; it is reddish brown above and cinnamon below.

Distribution and habitat

The crested ant tanager is found on both slopes of Colombia's Western Andes, from

Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part o ...

south to Cerro Munchique in

Cauca Department Cauca Department (, ) is a department of Southwestern Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department to the northeast, Huila De ...

, and on both slopes of the Central Andes from Antioquia to

Tolima Department Tolima () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the Andean region, in the center-west of the country. It is bordered on the north and the west by the department of Caldas; on the east by the department of Cundinamarca; on the ...

. It inhabits the understorey of humid mid-level and

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

. It favors dense vegetation, especially along streams, around openings such as landslides, and in ravines. It is occasionally found in more open areas. In elevation it ranges from .

Behavior

Feeding

The crested ant-tanager's diet is mostly insects and other

arthropods Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

, but it also eats palm seeds and other fruits. It forages through the undergrowth in pairs or small groups and sometimes sallies out to catch flying insects. Groups have been observed following

army ant The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited ...

swarms.

Breeding

One crested ant-tanager was observed carrying nesting material in a ravine in June; it was accompanied by two others. No other information on its breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

has been published.

Vocalization

The crested ant-tanager's dawn song is repeated "che'ik" note

It mobs with a "loud, shrill 'Chi-veek!'

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the crested ant-tanager as being of Least Concern. It occurs in several protected areas, but "numbers are undoubtedly declining; it has experienced considerable range contraction and fragmentation because of deforestation, and should probably be regarded as being at risk in the near future."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1301436 crested ant tanager Birds of the Colombian Andes Endemic birds of Colombia crested ant tanager Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fauna of the northwestern Andean montane forests