Stilpnia heinei
The Black-capped Tanager (*Stilpnia heinei*) is a stunning neotropical songbird, instantly recognizable by the male's striking iridescent black cap contrasting sharply with its vibrant blue-green (often described as verditer blue) body plumage. Measuring approximately 13 cm (5.1 in) in length and weighing around 18 g (0.63 oz), males also exhibit a black mask across the eyes, black wings and tail edged with blue, and a bright yellow vent. Females, while still attractive, are generally duller,...
Found primarily in humid montane forests, cloud forests, and forest edges, this species thrives at elevations typically between 900 and 2,600 meters (3,000-8,500 feet).
Their diet consists mainly of insects and other arthropods, supplemented significantly by small fruits and berries gleaned from various plants.
Black-capped Tanagers are diurnal birds, often observed actively foraging in the mid-story and canopy of their forest habitats. They frequently join mixed-species flocks, moving alongside other tanagers, warblers, and small insectivorous birds, which likely aids in predator detection and foraging...
The Black-capped Tanager is resident across a significant portion of the northern Andes, extending from western Venezuela through Colombia and Ecuador, and south into extreme northern Peru. Its core distribution lies along the humid montane slopes, where it is a fairly common to locally abundant ...
Least Concern
- The Black-capped Tanager was formerly classified in the large genus *Tangara* before molecular studies reallocated it to *Stilpnia* alongside other 'masked' tanagers. - Its dazzling blue-green plumage is not due to pigments, but rather structural coloration, where microscopic structures in the ...