Orange-throated tanager

Wetmorethraupis sterrhopteron

Photo by Dusan Brinkhuizen (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
orange-throated tanager (en); saíra-de-papo-laranja (pt); tangara à gorge orangée (fr); tangara golinaranja (es); veilchenschultertangare (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Thraupidae

Range:
This species is only found in a small area of northern Peru, in the eastern slopes and foothills of the Andes above the rivers Marañón and Cenepa, in the forests at the headwaters of the río Nieva, and marginallt into Ecuador on the western slopes above the río Nangaritza.

Size:
These birds are 17 cm long and weigh 43,5-56 g.

Habitat:
The orange-throated tanager is mostly found in mature, humid terra firme forests and foothill forests, also using disturbed forests. They are present at altitudes of 450-1.000 m.

Diet:
They feed on fruits, seeds and insects such as beetles.

Breeding:
Orange-throated tanagers breed in January-March. They are cooperative breeders, with helpers participating in nest defence and provisioning. The nest is an open cup made of twigs, dead plant material, moss and lichens, and is placed in the uppermost fronds of a palm tree, about 10 m above the ground. There is no information on clutch size, but the incubation period is believed to take 18-20 days. There is no available data regarding the fledging period.

Conservation:
IUCN status - VU (Vulnerable)
This species has a relatively small breeding range and the global population is estimated at just 6.000-15.000 individuals. The orange-throated tanager is suspected to lose 6% of suitable habitat within its distribution over the next decade, based on a model of Amazonian deforestation, being therefore suspected to suffer decline a small decline in the near future.