All species › Passerines › Tanagers and allies › Golden-eared Tanager
Golden-eared Tanager | Tangara chrysotis
Goudoortangare | Tangara orejidorada | Saíra-de-orelha-dourada
The Golden-eared Tanager is a tanager of lower montane forest on the eastern slope of the Andes, from Colombia to Bolivia. It combines a golden-orange ear patch and eyebrow with a black mask, a green-streaked back and a cinnamon centre to the belly. It lives high in the canopy and is fairly scarce over most of its range.
Voice
High, thin tsit calls, often in mixed flocks; a distinctive song has not been described.
Recording: Mauricio Cuéllar Ramírez — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
14 cm, with a short, black bill. The crown is glossy golden green; the forehead and a stripe through the eye and along the throat are black. The eyebrow and ear patch are bright golden orange. The back is black with glossy golden-green streaks; the rump is green. The throat and breast are glossy golden green to opal green, the centre of the belly and the undertail coverts cinnamon to chestnut. Wings and tail are black with green edges. The sexes are alike; juveniles are duller and greener.
Confusion species
Saffron-crowned Tanager Tangara xanthocephala has a plain saffron-yellow head without a black stripe along the throat, a blue-green body and no cinnamon belly, and usually lives higher. Flame-faced Tanager Tangara parzudakii has a red and golden-yellow face, a black throat and a black back. Golden Tanager Tangara arthus is almost entirely golden yellow with a black ear patch.
Habitat
Canopy and edges of humid lower montane rainforest and foothill forest on the eastern slope, roughly between 1000 and 2200 m. It searches mossy branches in the canopy for insects and eats small fruits, usually in mixed flocks with other tanagers. Little is known about the nest.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia only on the eastern slope of the Eastern Andes in the south. In Ecuador on the eastern slope of the Andes. In Peru on the eastern slope from north to south. In Bolivia on the eastern slope in La Paz and Cochabamba. Does not occur on the Galápagos. Not known outside the guide area.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Follow mixed flocks along roads through lower montane forest on the eastern slope, for example at Wild Sumaco in Ecuador or on the lower part of the Manu road in Peru; look for birds high in the canopy with a golden-orange ear patch.
Conservation status
Least Concern. Fairly scarce and local; depends on continuous montane forest on the eastern slope, which is locally being cleared.
Scientific name
Tangara chrysotis | (Du Bus de Gisignies, B-AL, 1846)
Du Bus de Gisignies, B-AL described the species in 1846 as Calliste chrysotis; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Tangara was introduced in 1760 by Brisson. The genus name comes from the extinct Tupi language, in which tangara means 'dancer'. The specific name comes from Greek khrusos, 'gold', and ous (ōtos), 'ear', referring to the golden ear patch. The specimen the first description was based on came from Peru.