Ramphocelus

Ramphocelus
File:Ramphocelus bresilius04.jpg
Brazilian tanager (Ramphocelus bresilius)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Thraupidae
Genus:	Ramphocelus Desmarest, 1805
Type species
Tanagra bresilia Linnaeus, 1766
Species
See species list

Ramphocelus is a Neotropical genus of birds of the tanager family. They have enlarged shiny whitish or bluish-grey lower mandibles, which are pointed upwards in display. However, this is greatly reduced in the females of most species. Males are black and red, orange or yellow, while females resemble a duller version of the males, or are brownish or greyish combined with dull red, orange or yellowish.

Ramphocelus tanagers are found in semi-open areas. The nest is a cup built by the female of plant materials such as moss, rootlets, and strips of large leaves like banana or Heliconia, and is often in a fairly open site in a tree. The female usually lays pale blue eggs, with grey, brown or lavender spots, and the young stay in the nest for only about 12 days.

The songs of this genus are repetitions of rich one- or two-syllable whistles.

Ramphocelus tanagers hunt at forest edges or in second growth, taking insects in flight or picking them from leaves.

Taxonomy

The genus Ramphocelus was introduced by the French zoologist Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1805. The name combines the Ancient Greek words rhamphos "bill" and koilos "concave". The type species was designated as the Brazilian tanager by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855.

The other species form two superspecies. One includes crimson-backed, Huallaga, silver-beaked and Brazilian tanagers, and the other comprises Passerini's, Cherrie's and flame-rumped tanagers.

The subspecies icteronotus of the flame-rumped tanager is sometimes considered a separate species, and the lemon-rumped tanager, R. icteronotus, and Passerini's and Cherrie's tanager were formerly lumped as scarlet-rumped tanager, R. passerinii (a treatment some authorities still prefer).

Species in taxonomic order

The genus contains nine species:

Genus Ramphocelus – Desmarest, 1805 – nine species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Crimson-collared tanager File:Ramphocelus sanguinolentus.jpg	Ramphocelus sanguinolentus (Lesson, 1831)	southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca in Mexico through the Atlantic slope of Central America,western Panama Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Masked crimson tanager File:Masked Crimson Tanager - Manu NP - Perù 8953 (22856151717).jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Ramphocelus nigrogularis (Spix, 1825)	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Crimson-backed tanager File:Crimson-backed Tanager - Panama H8O8413 (22954596730).jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Ramphocelus dimidiatus Lafresnaye, 1837	Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela, and introduced to French Polynesia Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Huallaga tanager File:Ramphocelus melanogaster - Black-bellied Tanager 2.jpg	Ramphocelus melanogaster (Swainson, 1838)	Peru Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Silver-beaked tanager File:Ramphocelus carbo -Piraju, Sao Paulo, Brazil -male-8.jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Ramphocelus carbo (Pallas, 1764)	South America from eastern Colombia and Venezuela south to Paraguay and central Brazil, Perú and on Trinidad Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Brazilian tanager File:Ramphocelus bresilius03.jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Ramphocelus bresilia (Linnaeus, 1766)	eastern Brazil and far northeastern Argentina Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Scarlet-rumped tanager File:Passerini's Tanager - Sarapiqui - Costa Rica S4E0838 (26712310255).jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Ramphocelus passerinii Bonaparte, 1831	Caribbean lowlands from southern Mexico to western Panama Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Flame-rumped tanager File:Flame-rumped Tanager - Colombia S4E8786 (22621894474).jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Ramphocelus flammigerus (Jardine & Selby, 1833)	Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Lemon-rumped tanager File:Lemon-rumped Tanager - Panama H8O0413 (22623317413).jpg Male {{{image2-alt}}} Female	Ramphocelus icteronotus Bonaparte, 1838	Panama to Ecuador Map of range	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC

Sources

• Hilty, Birds of Venezuela,
• Morton, Isler & Isler, Tanagers
• Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica