The flame-rumped tanager (''Ramphocelus flammigerus''), also known as sangre de toro lomo de fuego (the flame-backed bull's-blood), toche enjalmado (scallop-billed tanager) or tangara lomiflama (flame-backed tanager), is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the 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 ...

. It 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 ...

to western

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 ...

, found in semi-open forest and woodland.

Distribution and Habitat

The flame-rumped tanager is distributed throughout the Cauca Valley, from

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * 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 th ...

south to Cauca in western Colombia. This species is considered quite common in its natural habitats: shrubby clearings, forest edges and gardens, mainly between 800 and 2000m above sea level. The most widespread

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, ''icteronotus'', is found in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

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

, and is sometimes considered a separate species, the lemon-rumped tanager (''R. icteronotus''). However, it is known to hybridize with the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. ...

from the Cauca Valley in Colombia.

Description

The flame-rumped tanager measures on average 19 cm in length. It has very marked

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

. Males of both subspecies have velvety black

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

with a scarlet-red spot on the back; the chest and rump are orange to red and the belly is bright yellow. The beak is cobalt blue to silver or whitish with a black tip. The female has an olive-brown back with dark spots; a reddish-orange rump; and a light yellow chest and belly. The rump of the male ''P. f. icteronotus'' is yellow, while it is red in ''P. f. flammigerus''. The rump is yellowish in the female ''P. f. icteronotus'', while the rump, vent and chest are orange-red in ''P. f. flammigerus''.

References

flame-rumped tanager Birds of the Colombian Andes Endemic birds of Colombia flame-rumped tanager Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Thraupidae-stub