All species › Passerines › Tityras, becards and allies › Pink-throated Becard
Pink-throated Becard | Pachyramphus minor
Roodkeelbekarde | Anambé gorjirrosa | Caneleiro-pequeno
The Pink-throated Becard is a medium-sized becard of the Amazonian rainforest canopy. The male is almost black with a small pink patch on the throat, which often stays hidden in the field. The female has a grey head and back and rufous wings.
Voice
Thin, high whistles, like tseeu, repeated at intervals, and soft, chattering calls.
Recording: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
16–17 cm, with a large head and a stout, dark bill. The male is blackish above and dark slate-grey below, with a pink patch on the lower throat. The female has a grey crown and back, rufous wings and tail, and cinnamon underparts. Young males at first resemble the female.
Confusion species
The male White-winged Becard Pachyramphus polychopterus has white edges to the wings and tail and no pink throat; the female is olive-brown with pale wing edges. Black-capped Becard Pachyramphus marginatus is smaller, with pale grey underparts and white wing edges. The female Crested Becard Pachyramphus validus resembles the female, but has a rufous back and lives on the Andean slopes of southern Peru and Bolivia.
Habitat
The canopy and edges of humid lowland forest, both terra firme and várzea, and tall secondary forest; up to about 1000 m. It searches for insects high in the crowns, often in mixed flocks, and also eats fruit. The nest is a large, globular ball of plant material high in a tree.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in the Amazon region and along the eastern foot of the Andes. In Ecuador and Peru in the eastern lowlands. In Bolivia in the north, in Pando, Beni and La Paz, south to Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Absent west of the Andes and from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in southern Venezuela, the Guianas and Amazonian Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
From canopy towers and walkways in the eastern lowlands, look for dark becards in mixed flocks. With a telescope the male's pink throat patch can sometimes be seen.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species is sensitive to deforestation, but still widespread in Amazonia.
Scientific name
Pachyramphus minor | (Lesson, 1831)
Lesson described the species in 1831 as Querula minor; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Pachyramphus was introduced in 1840 by Gray. The genus name comes from Greek pakhus, 'stout, thick', and rhamphos, 'bill'. The species name is Latin minor, 'smaller'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Cayenne, French Guiana.