Cnemoscopus rubrirostris
The Grey-hooded Bush Tanager (*Cnemoscopus rubrirostris*) is a captivating denizen of the high Andean cloud forests, easily recognized by its distinctive grey hood and vibrant plumage. This medium-sized tanager measures approximately 15-16 cm (6-6.3 inches) in length and weighs between 16-24 grams. Its most striking field marks include a dark grey head, nape, and throat that contrast sharply with a bright yellow belly and olive-green back, wings, and tail. Perhaps its most unique feature is i...
This species primarily inhabits humid montane evergreen and cloud forests, favoring dense understory and forest edges. It is typically found at high elevations, generally between 1,500 and 3,000 meters (4,900-9,800 feet).
Its diet primarily consists of insects and other arthropods, such as caterpillars, beetles, and spiders, which it gleans from foliage and bark. It supplements this with small fruits and berries.
The Grey-hooded Bush Tanager is a diurnal and highly active arboreal forager, spending much of its day gleaning insects and small fruits from foliage, twigs, and mossy branches. It often hangs acrobatically to reach food items, carefully examining crevices and undersides of leaves. While details ...
The Grey-hooded Bush Tanager is a non-migratory resident species, widely distributed throughout the humid montane forests of the Andes in South America. Its range extends from the western Andes of Venezuela (including Táchira, Mérida, Trujillo, and Lara states), south through all three cordillera...
Least Concern
- The Grey-hooded Bush Tanager is one of the few tanagers to possess a distinctive rufous-orange lower mandible, making its bill a key identification feature. - It often acts as a nuclear species, leading or co-leading mixed-species foraging flocks in the Andean cloud forests. - Its genus name, *...