Silver-throated tanager

Species of bird from South America

The silver throated tanager (Tangara icterocephala) is a species of passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and northeastern Peru. It inhabits mossy forests, montane evergreen forests, tropical lowland evergreen forests and forest edges, along with tall secondary forests and disturbed habitat with remnant trees and forest. It is long and weighs on average, and shows slight sexual dimorphism, with duller female plumage. Adult males are mainly bright yellow, with a silvery white throat bordered above with a black stripe on the cheeks, black streaking on the back, and green edges to the wings and tail. Juveniles are duller and greener. The silver throated tanager is omnivorous, and mainly feeds on fruits, especially melastomes, supplemented with arthropods. Breeding occurs from April–September, and two broods are raised in a single breeding season. Cup nests are built by females out of moss, leaves, and spider webs in forests or isolated trees. Eggs are laid in clutches of two and incubated by females. Nestlings leave the nest at around 15 days old. The silver throated tanager is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the IUCN Red List, but is threatened by habitat destruction.

The silver throated tanager was first described as Calliste icterocephala by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1851 on the basis of a specimen from Ecuador. The genus Calliste was subsequently synonymized with Calospiza, which itself was later lumped with Tangara. The generic name Tangara comes from the Tupí word tangara, meaning dancer. The specific name icterocephala is from the Ancient Greek words ikteros, meaning yellow, and kephalos, meaning headed. Silver throated tanager is the official common name designated by the International Ornithologists' Union. The silver throated tanager is one of 27 species in the genus Tangara, in the tanager family Thraupidae. According to a 2004 study of mitochondrial DNA by Kevin Burns and Kazuya Naoki, it is part of a species group with the blue whiskered tanager, green and gold tanager, emerald tanager, golden tanager, saffron crowned tanager, golden eared tanager, and flame faced tanager within the genus. Within this group, it is sister to the emerald tanager. The clade formed by these two species is sister to the golden tanager. The following cladogram shows phylogenetic relationships within the species group based on the above study:

There are three recognized subspecies of the silver throated tanager. The silver throated tanager is also the type host of the chewing louse Myrsidea icterocephalae.

The silver throated tanager is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the IUCN Red List, due to its large range and lack of a rapid decline in population. However, the species' population is declining due to habitat destruction. Increases in tree density near open agricultural areas may increase the species' population.