White-banded tanager

Neothraupis fasciata

(Photo from Tropical Birding)

Common name:

white-banded tanager (en); cigarra-do-campo (pt); tangara unifascié (fr); frutero de banda blanca (es); flügelbindentangare (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Thraupidae

Range:

This South American species is found in eastern Bolivia, north-eastern Paraguay and in southern and eastern Brazil from southern Maranhão and Piauí south to Minas Gerais and northern São Paulo, and west to southern Mato Grosso.

Size:

The white-banded tanager is 16 cm long and weighs 29-32 g.

Habitat:

These birds are endemic to the cerrado biome, being found in dense woodlands and scrublands, but also in savannas and disturbed areas.

Diet:

The white-banded tanager is omnivorous, eating both arthropods and fruits. They are known to take ants, termites, mantises, caterpillars, butterflies, crickets and grasshoppers, as well as the fruits of Araliaceae, Melastomataceae, Ochnaceae and Rubiaceae.

Breeding:

These birds breed in August-November. They build a deep, cup-shaped nest made of grasses, and placed in a small tree or bush up to 1m above the ground. There the female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated by both parents, and sometimes by birds from earlier broods, for 12-14 days. The chicks fledge 9-13 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)

This species has a very large breeding range and is described as fairly common. However, the population is declining at a slow to moderate rate, owing to continuing degradation and loss of suitable habitats within the range. Conversion to soybeans, exportable crops and Eucalyptus plantations has severely impacted cerrado habitats, with grasslands in Paraguay additionally threatened by extensive cattle-ranching.