THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

224 A Docent Field Guide to the Species of the Steinhart Aquarium
feet to maneuver in branches.
They can be aggressive and territorial.
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes cyaneus (Thraupidae)
Tanagers, Honeycreepers, Euphonias and their
Allies
Distribution: Widespread from southern
Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and some
Caribbean Islands.
Habitat: Prefer crown of deciduous forests but
are also common in semi-open, second growth
and gardens in shrub and understory.
Description: Male red-legged honeycreeper
is a striking dark violet-blue on its face,
undersides and neck, set off by black eye
patches, wings, tail and upper back. The crown
is bright turquoise, the underwings yellow. The
black bill is fairly long and decurved. Its legs
are brilliant red. The male molts to the female
plumage colors: greenish paler below with
slight streaks and rufous legs. Size: c. 12 cm;
weight: 14 grams.
Diet: Primarily fruit eaters, honeycreepers
also depend on nectar sipped from blossoms
while perching. Trees with arillate seeds (small
fleshy-covered seeds often within a pod)
are also a frequent food. They often come to
feeders for fruit and nectar, joining small mixed
flocks of birds with similar food preferences.
Active and restless, they move through foliage
often in groups of 15 – 20 seeking food trees.
Keep in contact with constant ‘tsip’ notes.
Reproduction and Development: Pair jointly
build a thin, somewhat flimsy cup of fiber and
grasses, small twigs and moss, and fasten it
to the fork of a slender branch with cobwebs,
usually 10–15 feet above ground. Two brownspotted
white eggs are incubated by the female
for 12–13 days; both parents feed the young
for 14 days.
Mortality/Longevity: Preyed upon by hawks
and snakes.
Remarks: The male’s striking brilliant blue,
turquoise and yellow plumage colors, and
the startling red legs impress human visitors,
who often have a chance to see birds which
are drawn to fruit and nectar feeders. Out of
breeding season, they join in fairly large mixed
flocks.
Silver-beaked Tanager
Ramphocelus carbo (Thraupidae)
Tanagers, Honeycreepers, Euphonias and their
Allies
Distribution: Resident breeder in South
America from Colombia and Venezuela south
to Paraguay and central Brazil as well as on
Trinidad.
Habitat: Light woodland and cultivated areas.
Appearance: Adult male: velvety crimson back
with deep crimson throat and breast; upper
mandible black, lower mandible bright silver.
Female: duller; brownish upperparts and
reddish brown underparts, throat, and breast.
Diet: Mainly fruit as well as insects.
Reproduction: Clutch of 2 green-blue eggs
blotched with black-brown are laid in bulky
cup nest usually built at lower forest level.
Female incubates eggs for 11–12 days before
they hatch. Chicks fledge 11–12 days later.
Remarks: These social birds tend to be noisy,
traveling in groups of 4–8 in the wild.
Our rainforest birds have already nested,
hatched, and fledged!
Red-shouldered Tanager
Tachyphonus phoenicius (Thraupidae)
Distribution: Tropical to sub-tropical South
America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador,
French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and
Venezuela.
Habitat: Dry shrubland or seasonally wet
or flooded lowland grassland. Also open
rainforest, to 2000 m.
Appearance: Male: glossy black, point of
shoulder red. Female: top and sides of head
dark brownish grey as are back, wings, and
tail. Underparts a dull white, sides of throat a
brighter white.
Diet: Usually forage in pairs.
Rufous-crowned Tanager
Tangara cayana (Thraupidae)
Distribution: Tropical to sub-tropical areas of
South America.
Habitat: Favors tropical moist lowland forests,
but also found in open terrain with scattered
trees and in cultivated areas.
Appearance: Male: crown a bright coppery
rufous; sides of the head black; throat and
breast dark greenish blue; back a shining