Black-goggled Tanager - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo © by Luiz
Itatiaia Park Hotel, Rio de Janiero, Brazil, May 2007

Trichothraupis melanops

Identification

16 cm (6¼ in)

Female
Photo © by Xyko Paludo
Pilarzinho, Curitiba, PR, Brazil, July 2018

• Tawny underparts
• Dull brownish-olive back and head
• Black tail and wings
• White speculum
  

Male

• Yellow crown patch (not always obvious)
• Large black patch around the eyes (giving the species its name)
  

Female - similar but lacks the black goggles and the yellow crest.

Distribution

Male
Photo © by Rogerio Araújo Dias
Brasilia, Brazil

South America: found in eastern and southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina with a separate population in Peru, Bolivia and north-western Argentina.
Uncommon to fairly common. Andean population uncommon and local.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Low level rain forest, forest edges and woodland.
Occurs at 1000 - 1700m in the Andes (but much lower in Bolivia).

Behaviour

Usually in pairs or small groups, often in mixed-species flocks. An active and restless species.

Diet

Feeds on beetles, fruit, seeds and pieces of snail shell.

Breeding

Breeding recorded in October and November. The nest was a cup 1m up in bamboo and contained 3 young.

Movements

A resident species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2011. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 16: Tanagers to New World Blackbirds. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553781
3. Ber van Perlo. 2009. A field guide to the Birds of Brazil. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7
4. Ridgely and Tudor 2009. Field guide to the songbirds of South America - the passerines. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, USA. ISBN 978-0-292-71979-8
5. Wikipedia
6. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Black-goggled Tanager. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-goggled_Tanager

External Links

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