Red-hooded Tanager

About the Red-hooded Tanager

The red-hooded tanager (Piranga rubriceps), is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The red-hooded tanager and the other species of genus Piranga were originally placed in the family Thraupidae, the "true" tanagers. Since approximately 2008 they have been placed in their current family.

The red-hooded tanager is monotypic. The red-hooded tanager is approximately 17 cm (6.7 in) long and weighs 28 to 42 g (0.99 to 1.48 oz). The male is mostly yellowish overall, with a red hood that extends from the head to the breast. The female is similar, but duller overall, and the red of the head does not extend onto the breast.

The red-hooded tanager is found in the Western, Central, and Eastern Andes of Colombia and on the eastern slope of the Andes south through Ecuador to Peru's Huánuco Province. It inhabits the interior and edges of humid montane forest, especially those heavy with mosses and epiphytes. In Colombia it ranges in elevation from 1,700 to 3,000 m (5,600 to 9,800 ft), in Ecuador mostly between 2,200... Wikipedia →