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Yellow-throated Chlorospingus | Chlorospingus flavigularis
Geelborsttangare | Clorospingo gorjiamarillo | Clorospingo-de-garganta-amarela
The Yellow-throated Chlorospingus is an olive chlorospingus of the lower mountain slopes and foothills of the Andes, from Colombia to Bolivia. It is recognised by its bright yellow throat, which contrasts sharply with the grey head and breast. It moves in noisy little groups through the middle and upper levels of the forest, often as the core of mixed flocks.
Voice
Sharp, dry chip calls, given constantly within a group. The song is a fast series of dry chip notes that sometimes turns into a rattle.
Recording: GABRIEL LEITE — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
14–15 cm, with a conical, dark bill. The upperparts are olive-green, the head plain greyish olive, without a white spot behind the eye. The throat is bright yellow, and the yellow extends slightly onto the sides of the neck. The breast and belly are grey, the flanks olive. The eye colour varies from brown to paler reddish brown. The sexes are alike. Juveniles are duller, with a less bright throat.
Confusion species
Yellow-whiskered Chlorospingus Chlorospingus parvirostris has a whitish or grey throat with only a yellow to orange-yellow malar stripe, and usually a pale iris. Common Chlorospingus Chlorospingus flavopectus usually lives higher, often has a white spot behind the eye and a whitish throat with a yellow breast band. Ashy-throated Chlorospingus Chlorospingus canigularis has a pale grey throat and a yellow breast band.
Habitat
Humid montane forest, foothill forest and their edges, also tall secondary forest, roughly between 400 and 1700 m, locally somewhat higher. It forages in the middle and upper levels of the forest for insects, spiders and small fruits, mostly in flocks with tanagers and other species. The nest is a cup of moss and fibres in a tree or among epiphytes.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia on the slopes of all three Andean ranges and on the Pacific side of the Western Andes. In Ecuador on both slopes, locally on the western slope. In Peru along the eastern slope over almost the whole length of the country. In Bolivia on the eastern slope in the north, in La Paz and Cochabamba. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in eastern Panama.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Follow mixed flocks along forest edges and roads in the foothills and on the lower slopes; the groups announce themselves with their persistent chip calls. Compare the throat colour with that of other chlorospinguses in the same flock.
Conservation status
Not evaluated in the taxonomy followed here. The species is common in much of its range and tolerates forest edge and secondary forest, but disappears where the forest is cleared completely.
Scientific name
Chlorospingus flavigularis | (Sclater, 1852)
Sclater described the species in 1852 as Pipilopsis flavigularis; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Chlorospingus was introduced in 1851 by Cabanis. The genus name combines Greek khlōros, 'green', with spingos, a small bird, perhaps the chaffinch. The species name comes from Latin flavus, 'yellow', and gularis, 'of the throat': yellow-throated. The specimen the first description was based on came from Bogotá, Colombia.