- Lanio versicolor
Identification
13- 15cm. A slender tanager with a strong, sharply hooked bill.
Male
- Black head with dark olive-yellow forecrown and dark olive throat
- Large white wing patch
- Black rest of wings and tail
- Ochraceous to cinnamon upperparts (including uppertail-coverts)
- Deep yellow underparts
Female
- Uniformely warm olive-brown plumage
- Browner wings
- Tinged rufescent brown rump and tail
Juveniles are mainly brown.
Distribution
Found in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
Widespread and fairly common in its range.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Two subspecies recognized[1]:
- L. v. versicolor in eastern Peru (south of Río Marañón) to northern Bolivia and western Brazil
- L. v. parvus in southern Amazonian Brazil and northern Mato Grosso
Habitat
Moist lowland forests. Occurs in humid terra firme forest, varzea forest and transitional forest.
From lowlands and foothills up to ca. 1200m but most records below 900m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects and fruit.
Acts as a sentinel in mixed-species flocks where it is usually at the centre of the flock activity.
Single birds often sit upright on a perch at middle-level or subcanopy and wait for other birds to flush insects which they catch in rapid sallies.
Breeding
One nest recorded in November in Peru. This nest was cup-shaped and made from plant fibres, twigs and dead leaves. It was placed 0.9m above the ground and contained 2 chicks.
Movements
A resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- 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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) White-winged Shrike-Tanager. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-winged_Shrike-Tanager
