Blue-and-black Tanager

Vassori - tanagers

The Vassori - Tanager ( Tangara vassorii ) is a species of bird in the family of tanagers ( Thraupidae ). The species has a large distribution area, which includes the South American countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The stock is assessed by the IUCN as endangered not (Least Concern ).

Features

The Vassori - tanagers reaches a body length of about 13 centimeters. The adult male is mainly cobalt blue. A narrow mask, wings and tail are black. The lower wing-coverts and wing bars are also cobalt blue. The female is somewhat dull color.

Distribution and habitat

The species is relatively common in moist forest edges and in overgrown grassland at altitudes of 1800-3500 meters. But they are also found in the coppice and dominated by black mouth growths secondary vegetation.

Behavior

The species is usually go in pairs and groups of up to six birds. Often, they can also be observed with other flocks of birds. These are not the congeners of Schillertangaren ( Tangara ), but species of the genera Bergtangaren ( Anisognathus ), hook beaks ( Diglossa ) or pointed beaks ( Conirostrum ) with which you can see the Vassori - tanagers together. She is a very active bird that is always in motion. The stereotypical insect Search comes with her less. They usually hops in search of fruit from branch to branch. So it can happen that they examined upside down leaves and branches for food. The typical food are mostly fruits and rare insects.

Subspecies

There are three subspecies have been described which differ mainly in their coloring and their area of ​​distribution:

• Tangara vassorii vassorii ( Boissonneau ) 1840 - nominatform Occurs in the Andes Táchiras to Mérida and up to the North East of Trujillo in Venezuela. In Colombia, it occurs in all three Andean slopes. In the Pacific region, the incidence ranges in the north to the Departamento de Antioquia and Cauca. In Ecuador it is available on both sides slope of the Andes. In Peru, it is present only on the eastern slopes in the northeast of the country.
• Tangara vassorii atrocoerulea ( Tschudi ) 1844 - Come south than T. v. branickii of Auquimarca to Santo Domingo in Bolivia before.
• Tangara vassorii branickii ( Taczanowski ) 1882 - This subspecies has a silver skull. Occurs to the south of the La Libertad region in central Amazonia.

Tangara vassorii branickii painted by Joseph Smit

Naming

Auguste Boissonneau described this Schillertangare originally called Tanagra ( Euphone? ) Vassorii. He dedicated the way one of his best friends. The illustration to the first description was published in the Magasin de Zoologie. The image came from the French artist Jean -Gabriel Prêtre (1768-1849), the engraving was from Christophe Annedouche and the pressure was carried out by N. Remond.