Flame-rumped tanager

The flame-rumped tanager (Ramphocelus flammigerus), also known as sangre de toro lomo de fuego (the flame-backed bull's-blood), toche enjalmado (scallop-billed tanager) or tangara lomiflama (flame-backed tanager),^[2] is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is endemic to western Colombia, found in semi-open forest and woodland.

Flame-rumped tanager
Male in Colombia
Female in Colombia
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Thraupidae
Genus:	Ramphocelus
Species:	R. flammigerus
Binomial name
Ramphocelus flammigerus (Jardine & Selby, 1833)

Distribution and Habitat

The flame-rumped tanager is distributed throughout the Cauca Valley, from Antioquia south to Cauca in western Colombia.^[1][3]

This species is considered quite common in its natural habitats: shrubby clearings, forest edges and gardens, mainly between 800 and 2000m above sea level.^[3]

The most widespread subspecies, icteronotus, is found in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and is sometimes considered a separate species, the lemon-rumped tanager (R. icteronotus). However, it is known to hybridize with the nominate subspecies from the Cauca Valley in Colombia.

Description

The flame-rumped tanager measures on average 19 cm in length. It has very marked sexual dimorphism. Males of both subspecies have velvety black plumage with a scarlet-red spot on the back; the chest and rump are orange to red and the belly is bright yellow. The beak is cobalt blue to silver or whitish with a black tip. The female has an olive-brown back with dark spots; a reddish-orange rump; and a light yellow chest and belly.^[4]

The rump of the male P. f. icteronotus is yellow, while it is red in P. f. flammigerus. The rump is yellowish in the female P. f. icteronotus, while the rump, vent and chest are orange-red in P. f. flammigerus.