A relatively stocky bird that is almost entirely blue except for a very distinctive and beautifully placed lemon yellow throat.
Meet the purple-mantled tanager
Photo courtesy of Gary Leavens/CC BY-SA 2.0
The violet-mantled tanager (Iridosornis porphyrocephalus) is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. Up to 15 cm in length, this bird is mainly purplish blue, especially on the head, reflecting almost greenish tones in sunlight. The throat is a prominent bright yellow color that contrasts wonderfully with the rest of the body. There is a small black mask from the beak to the eyes with a buff-white belly that turns brown towards the tail.
Photo courtesy of Félix Uribe/CC BY-SA 2.0
The wing coverts have black spots.
Both males and females look very similar.
Photo courtesy of Francesco Veronesi / CC BY-SA 2.0
This species is found from Colombia to southeastern Ecuador.
Photo courtesy of Gary Leavens/CC BY-SA 2.0
The violet-mantled tanager prefers to live in subtropical humid montane forests, as well as in highly degraded former forest areas.
Photo courtesy of Félix Uribe/CC BY-SA 2.0
This bird jumps and pecks through dense foliage to find and eat berries and insects, but does not congregate in fruit trees with other frugivores.
Photo courtesy of Félix Uribe/CC BY-SA 2.0
Not much is known about what happens during the reproductive season of this species, however offspring have been recorded between May and June in the Central and Western mountain ranges. Likewise, juveniles have been sighted in the month of July in the town of Monchique.
Photo courtesy of Félix Uribe/CC BY-SA 2.0
This species is considered a Near Threatened species on the IUCN list. The loss and degradation of its habitat are the main causes of the reduction in its population as well as a result of agricultural, livestock and mining activities.
Photo courtesy of Félix Uribe/CC BY-SA 2.0
Watch this bird right here in the video below:
