Silver-beaked tanager facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Silver-beaked tanager |
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| Male in São Paulo, Brazil | |
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| Female | |
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| Genus: |
Ramphocelus
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| Species: |
carbo
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The silver-beaked tanager (Ramphocelus carbo) is a medium-sized passerine bird. This colorful tanager lives in South America. You can find it from eastern Colombia and Venezuela all the way south to Paraguay and central Brazil, Perú, and even on the island of Trinidad. It's a common bird and easy to spot!
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What Does a Silver-Beaked Tanager Look Like?
Silver-beaked tanagers are about 18 centimeters (7 inches) long. They weigh around 25 grams (less than an ounce).
Adult male tanagers are a beautiful velvety crimson black. Their throat and chest are a deep crimson color. The top part of their beak is black. But the bottom part is bright silver and looks quite large! When they want to show off, they point their silver beak upwards.
Female tanagers are not as brightly colored. They have brownish feathers on their upper body. Their underparts are a reddish-brown, and their beak is black.
There are different types of silver-beaked tanagers, called subspecies. Their feathers can vary quite a bit. The main differences are how much the colors on their upper body contrast with their throat and chest.
Where Do They Live and How Do They Reproduce?
These birds like to live in light woodlands and areas where people grow crops. They build their nests in bushes. Their nest is shaped like a cup and can be quite big.
A female tanager usually lays two eggs. The eggs are a pretty green-blue color with black-brown spots. The female sits on the eggs for 11 to 13 days until they hatch. After the chicks hatch, they stay in the nest for another 11 to 12 days before they are ready to fly.
In the wild, a silver-beaked tanager can live for at least 11 years.
What Do Silver-Beaked Tanagers Eat?
Silver-beaked tanagers are social birds. This means they like to be with other birds. They often hang out in groups of six to ten.
They mostly eat fruit. But they also enjoy vines, sweet nectar, short grass, and insects.
You can often hear them making a sound like cheeng. Their song is a slow, thin sound that sounds like kick-wick.
Who Discovered This Bird?
The silver-beaked tanager was first described by a German scientist named Peter Simon Pallas. He wrote about it in 1764. He gave it the scientific name Lanius carbo back then.
Images for kids
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Ramphocelus carbo
