Sooty-capped bush tanager facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sooty-capped bush tanager |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Chlorospingus
|
| Species: |
pileatus
|
 |
|
The sooty-capped bush tanager (Chlorospingus pileatus) is a small bird that lives in the mountains. It's sometimes called the sooty-capped chlorospingus. This bird is a type of passerine, which means it's a perching bird, like most songbirds. It was once thought to be part of the tanager family, but now scientists believe it's more closely related to sparrows and other birds in the Passerellidae family.
This special bird lives only in the high mountain areas of Costa Rica and western Panama. It's called an endemic resident breeder because it lives and raises its young only in these specific places.
Contents
Where Sooty-Capped Bush Tanagers Live
Sooty-capped bush tanagers like to live in mossy mountain forests. They also live in areas where new trees are growing after old ones were cut down, and in open, bushy spaces nearby. You can usually find them at altitudes of 1,600 meters (about 5,250 feet) and even higher, above the tree line.
Nests and Eggs
These birds build their nests in a cup shape. They often place them on a bank, inside a thick bush, or hidden among epiphytes. Epiphytes are plants that grow on other plants, like trees, but don't harm them. Nests can be as high as 11 meters (about 36 feet) up in a tree. Usually, a female sooty-capped bush tanager lays two eggs. The eggs are pink-brown with white markings.
What Sooty-Capped Bush Tanagers Look Like
An adult sooty-capped bush tanager is about 13.5 centimeters (5.3 inches) long and weighs around 20 grams (0.7 ounces).
- Head: It has a blackish head.
- Eyebrow: There's a clear white stripe above its eye, called a supercilium, which looks like an eyebrow.
- Throat: Its throat is grey.
- Upper Body: The feathers on its back and wings are olive green.
- Underparts: Its belly is yellow, becoming white closer to its legs.
Some sooty-capped bush tanagers living near the Irazu-Turrialba volcanoes have more grey and less yellow on their undersides. Young birds have browner heads, duller colors on their undersides, and a less bright, olive-tinged supercilium. It's easy to tell this bird apart from the common bush tanager because of its darker head and that clear white "eyebrow."
What They Eat and How They Behave
Sooty-capped bush tanagers often hang out in small groups. They also join larger groups of different bird species that are all looking for food together. This is called a mixed-species feeding flock.
These birds enjoy eating:
Sounds They Make
The sooty-capped bush tanager has a high-pitched call that sounds like tseet tseet. Its song is a scratchy sound that can be described as seechur seechur see see seechur seechur, with some variations.
See also
In Spanish: Clorospingo cejiblanco para niños
