Birds of the World
 - White-lined Tanager
 - White-lined Tanager
+3
 - White-lined Tanager
Watch
 - White-lined Tanager
Listen

White-lined Tanager Tachyphonus rufus Scientific name definitions

Steven Hilty
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated March 3, 2013

Sign in to see your badges

Introduction

The White-lined Tanager is strikingly dimorphic, and the sight of the black male in close association with the rufous female is often the first clue to identification. The name refers to the extensive white on the underwing coverts of the male, which typically are visible only in flight. Pairs give contact calls as they travel through the undergrowth of clearings and edge habitats, often near water. This species is patchily distributed in areas of open forest from Costa Rica south to western Ecuador, from northern Colombia east to the Guianas, from eastern Brazil south to northern Argentina, and in the eastern Andes of Peru and southern Ecuador.

The genus name Tachyphonus derives from the Greek words takhus meaning fast, and phone meaning sound or voice, thus translates as "fast speaking" (Jobling 2010). The specific epithet, rufus, comes from the Latin word rufus meaning red, which refers to the rufous brown coloration of the female (Jobling 2010). In Spanish the common name is Tangara Negra (Hilty 2011, de Juana et al. 2012), and in Portuguese the common name is Pipira-Preta (CRBO 2010).

Field Identification

17 cm; 25·7–42·5 g. Male is entirely glossy blue-black, except for white underwing-coverts (flash of white when bird in flight); small amount of white at bend of wing and occasionally on marginal coverts (almost always hidden when bird at rest); iris dark brown; bill blackish, lower mandible bluish-grey with black on tip often extending over distal half; legs horn-grey to dark grey. Female is uniformly rufous, slightly paler below; flight-feathers dusky, edged and tinged rufous. Immature is like female; subadult male similar, but with variable amount of black mottling and patchiness (which can appear almost anywhere in plumage).

Systematics History

This species and T. coronatus are sister-species, and T. phoenicius is sister to both these. Despite extensive range, no regular geographical variation identified. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

SE Nicaragua, Costa Rica (Caribbean coast), SW Panama (Caribbean slope and locally on Pacific slope), Colombia (N & NE, including base of Santa Marta Mts, most of Andean region, and locally E of Andes in llanos) and Venezuela (except S, including Margarita I) E to Trinidad and Tobago, the Guianas, and E Brazil (W Mato Grosso S to N Paraná) S to extreme E Bolivia, Paraguay and N Argentina (S to N Buenos Aires); also isolated populations in NW & SE Ecuador and N & SE Peru.

Habitat

A non-forest species found in shrubby clearings, moist and humid forest borders, cultivated areas, plantations and gardens. Lowlands to c. 1800 m, occasionally slightly higher; humid foothill and montane areas in Venezuela and Colombia.

Movement

Apparently resident.

Diet and Foraging

Of 22 stomachs examined, seven contained only vegetable matter and eleven only animal matter, and four contained both; contents included ants (Formicidae), beetles (Coleoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), flies (Diptera), spiders (Araneae), feather fragments, also fruit , berries and seeds; also reported as eating caterpillars, a moth (Lepidoptera) and a katydid (Tettigoniidae) in Venezuela. Observed to consume papayas (Carica papaya), guavas (Psidium) and other commercial and garden fruits . In Trinidad, 28 species of fruit recorded in diet, epiphytes accounting for 35%, Miconia for 20% and Cecropia for 14% of the total. Almost always in pairs, partners keeping close together and staying low in bushy clearings; often pop up into the open briefly before flying off, one following its mate in low flight across an opening. Usually independent of mixed-species flocks. Rather active, often flicking wings as it hops and peers in foliage, but forages mostly less than 6 m above ground, and often on ground ; in all areas tends to stay out of sight when foraging. Of 238 records of feeding attempts in Trinidad, 60% involved fruit, 30% insect-seeking, and 10% were at flowers; small fruits usually mashed before being eating; flowers or flower parts picked or squeezed, presumably for nectar. Gleans and picks insects from leaves, makes short sallies to air, and regularly drops to ground for insects; of 74 observed instances of insect-catching, 51% were on the ground, 32% in foliage, 14% in aerial sallies, and 3% from branches. Has occasionally been noted at army-ant swarms and taking flying termites (Isoptera).

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Infrequently heard song in Venezuela, sometimes given in flight, a bouncy, chattery “chuéé, chuit, chuit-chuit-chuit” and so on, first syllable strongest; in Mérida (W Venezuela) a soft tentative “cheewank, wink, cheewank, wink, cheewank...”, first note falling, second rising, in leisurely hypnotic cadence. In Trinidad described as a somewhat musical “chip-chiwer, chip-chur, chip-wheeeo, cheeru, chéép-chooi” or “chip-chip-wheer”, repeated rapidly over and over. Dawn song of 2–4 phrases separated by pauses of 5–6 seconds. In Ecuador song described as a musical but repetitive “chip chirp weep chirp chip chirp weep...”. Call a soft, rising “sweet”.

Breeding

Recorded in May in Panama, Feb, Apr, Jun and Oct in Venezuela (Mar–May in upper R Orinoco), Feb–Aug and Nov (mostly Apr–Jun) in Trinidad, Jan–Mar in Peru, and, in Brazil, Oct–Jan in Pará and Oct in Mato Grosso. Bulky cup-nest of leaves, tendrils and rootlets, placed 1·2–6 m above grund in shrub or tree, once reported in tall grass, and occasionally to 12 m up in tree or banana plant. Clutch 2–3 eggs (infrequently 1), white to light purplish with darker markings; incubation by female, period 14–15 days; chicks fed by both adults, no information on duration of nestling period. Parasitized by Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis).
Not globally threatened. Common and reasonably widespread in suitable habitat in Venezuela and Colombia; scarce and local, but perhaps increasing, in Ecuador; widely distributed across E Brazil. Occurs in numerous protected areas throughout its ample range, and is well adapted for using a variety of edge, second-growth and disturbed habitats. Has profited from partial deforestation and settlement, and has expanded into areas that were formerly unsuitable. In Argentina, was rarely reported around Buenos Aires prior to c. 1999, but since then has gradually increased and is, at least for the moment, well established, with breeding confirmed. Uncertain if escaped cagebirds were the source of Buenos Aires population, although the species is not commonly kept in captivity.
Distribution of the White-lined Tanager - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the White-lined Tanager
White-lined Tanager, Abundance map
The Cornell Lab logo
Data provided by eBird

White-lined Tanager

Tachyphonus rufus

Abundance

Relative abundance is depicted for each season along a color gradient from a light color indicating lower relative abundance to a dark color indicating a higher relative abundance. Relative abundance is the estimated average count of individuals detected by an eBirder during a 1 hour, 1 kilometer traveling checklist at the optimal time of day for each species.   Learn more about this data

Relative abundance
Year-round
0.04
0.14
0.29

Recommended Citation

Hilty, S. (2020). White-lined Tanager (Tachyphonus rufus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whltan1.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.