Perhaps Not As Colorful As Some Of His Relatives He Is No Less Distinctive With His Fiery Orange Throat And His Sparsely Spangled Chest! – One Big Birdcage
The rufous-throated tanager (Ixothraupis rufigula) is a small though quite lovely tanager with its highly distinctive orange-rufous throat patch which spreads to the nape, the side of the head, and below the eye. The head is black, as are some of the outer wing feathers and tail. The chest and belly are flecked with black spots, some of which are surrounded by orange. The feet, bill, and legs are black.
Both males and females look very similar.
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Juvenile birds tend to look duller than their adult counterparts.
These birds are sparsely spread in some parts of Colombia and Ecuador.
They like to live in and around subtropical and or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded formerly forested areas.
Rufous-throated tanager likes to dine on a diet of fruit and arthropods, such as flying termites, caterpillars, and larvae.
Little is known about the breeding habits of this species, though breeding activities have been recorded from August through to January, with nests being found in August and September with both sexes recorded carrying nest-building material. A pair was seen feeding young in mid-December.
This bird is regarded as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
