#thraupidae

Yellow-bellied Tanager (Ixothraupis xanthogastra), family Thraupidae, order Passeriformes, Many Road, Peru

Flame-face Tanager Tangara lunigera

It is endemic to South America and is found in the eastern Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It feeds on fruit, arthropods, flower buds, and nectar. Foraging is mainly done in the canopy. In Colombia, adults were observed feeding each other berries as a part of courtship in February.

today's bird is the Tucumán mountain finch, endemic to the mountainside forests of a tiny sliver of the northern Argentinian Andes. its name presumably comes from the Argentinian province of Tucumán, which lies in the southern portion of its range; what exactly the province is named after, on the other hand, is somewhat unclear. it belongs to the family Thraupidae, or tanagers, rather than the true finches in family Fringillidae; Thraupidae contains many non-finch birds with the common name "finch," including the most famous of the supposed "finches" - the Galápagos finches, the evolutionary muses of Charles Darwin.

today's critter has recieved far less study than some of its cousins - though the bar is high, of course, we don't even know the particulars of its diet. most likely, it eats insects and seeds, which is certainly not the most specific hypothesis i've ever seen. while it may appear rather generic, in practice it's very restricted in habitat, occurring only at select elevations.

its southernmost populations migrate down their mountain slopes during the southern hemisphere's winter months, sometimes even hanging out in local human gardens should the mountain cold be too unbearable. their preferred environments include both forest and scrub. they're rather bulky for songbirds, and move relatively slowly. female birds bear a very slight brown tint to their bodies, most namely their primary wing feathers. partners stay in each other's company year-round, nesting in grounded cup nests formed of grass in late January or so.

12 July 2026

Piranga olivacea | Pheucticus ludovicianus | Pipilo erythrophthalmus