Sooty ant tanager facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sooty ant tanager |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Cardinalidae |
| Genus: | Habia |
| Species: |
H. gutturalis
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| Binomial name | |
| Habia gutturalis (Sclater, PL, 1854)
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The sooty ant tanager (Habia gutturalis) is a special type of bird found only in Colombia. It belongs to the cardinal family, which includes many colorful birds like cardinals and grosbeaks. This bird used to be grouped with the true tanagers, but scientists have learned more about it.
Sadly, the sooty ant tanager is becoming rare. This is mostly because its habitat (the place where it lives) is being lost.
Contents
About the Sooty Ant Tanager
How Scientists Name Birds
The sooty ant tanager was first officially described in 1854. An English zoologist named Philip Sclater gave it its scientific name. The first part of its name, Habia, comes from a Guaraní word. This word was used for different kinds of finches and tanagers. The second part, gutturalis, is a Latin word. It means "of the throat," which makes sense when you see the bird's colorful throat!
The sooty ant tanager is a monotypic species. This means it's the only species in its group, and there are no different subspecies of it.
What Does It Look Like?
This bird is about 19 to 20 centimeters (around 7.5 to 8 inches) long.
- Males: Adult male sooty ant tanagers are mostly dark grey. They have a very bright, scarlet-red crest on their head. This crest isn't always standing up; sometimes it lies flat. They also have a rosy-red throat, which is very noticeable.
- Females: Adult females are not as brightly colored as the males. They are a duller grey and have a pinkish-white throat instead of a bright red one.
Where Do They Live?
The sooty ant tanager lives in the northwest part of Colombia. You can find them in places like the Upper Sínu Valley, which is at the northern end of the western Andes mountains. They also live east along the base of the Andes, reaching the middle Magdalena River Valley.
Their favorite places to live are humid tropical forests. They like the edges of these forests, open spots, and older secondary forests (forests that have grown back after being cut down). They especially prefer dense areas near streams and places where landslides have happened, usually within large, untouched forests.
Why Are They Becoming Rare?
The main reason the sooty ant tanager is becoming rare is habitat loss. As forests are cut down for farming or other human activities, these birds lose their homes. Protecting their forest habitats is very important to help them survive.
See also
In Spanish: Piranga hormiguera sombría para niños
 | Chris Smalls |
 | Fred Hampton |
 | Ralph Abernathy |
