Scarlet-Rumped Tanager (Ramphocelus passerinii) lives in tropical rainforest across Central America, Northwestern South America. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Scarlet-Rumped Tanager
- At just 15 to 17 cm long and weighing only 25.5-37 g, the scarlet-rumped tanager fits on a child's palm yet packs the bold plumage of a tropical firework. Males blaze in velvety black with a scarlet rump, while females wear muted olive-buff tones, a striking sexual dimorphism.
- This tanager spans from southern Mexico to western Panama. One source lists its upper limit as 1,700 m (5,600 ft), another 1,300 m (4,300 ft), and a third records local peaks of 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in Costa Rica and Panama, while in Mexico it tops out at just 850 m (2,800 ft).
- During breeding, the tanager builds a modest cup nest low in bushes or grass, yet some are tucked as high as 6 m (20 ft) above ground. Clutches usually hold one or two eggs, though occasional triples occur, and the sole incubating female spends 11-12 days (rarely 13) on the eggs. After hatching, chicks fledge in another 11-12 days, with both parents feeding the young.
- A true opportunist, the scarlet-rumped tanager eats a wide variety of fruits and insects, showing a particular taste for Melastomaceae berries. It snatches insects from leaves, gleans in grassy patches, and even catches winged termites mid-air. Typically it forages in single-species flocks of about a dozen birds.
- The IUCN rates the scarlet-rumped tanager as Least Concern, backed by an estimated population of at least 500,000 mature individuals that appears to be rising. Its comfort in second-growth forests and plantations means human-altered landscapes may actually expand its range, turning habitat change into a hidden advantage and reducing immediate extinction risk.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeCentral America, Northwestern South America
HabitatTropical rainforest
DietInsects and fruit
About the Scarlet-Rumped Tanager
In the vibrant tapestry of the tropical rainforest, the Scarlet-Rumped Tanager is a fleeting splash of color, its fiery plumage igniting the dappled shade as it flits between the trees with an air of restless elegance. With each darting movement, the tanager's iridescent feathers seem to shimmer and glow, as if infused with an inner light, drawing the eye inexorably to its brilliant scarlet rump, a beacon of beauty in the verdant undergrowth. As it forages for fruit and insects, the tanager's melodic song threads through the forest, a lilting counterpoint to the rustle of leaves and the distant call of its companions.
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