Silver-beaked Tanager

The Silver-beaked Tanager is a richly colored songbird of lowland South America, with males cloaked in a deep, velvety maroon-red that glows brighter and more crimson on the rump and throat, especially in good light. The bird's signature feature is its bicolored bill: a dark upper mandible paired with a pale, silvery-white lower mandible that flashes conspicuously as the bird calls or feeds.

Females and immatures are far duller, washed in dusky brownish-red or olive-brown tones, lacking the male's velvety richness but still showing a hint of the pale lower bill. Highly social and conspicuous, this tanager is one of the most frequently seen birds along forest edges and gardens across much of the Amazon basin and the Guianas.

Key field marks

• Deep, velvety maroon-red plumage overall in males, brightest and most crimson on the rump and throat
• Distinctive silvery-white lower mandible contrasting with a dark upper mandible
• Females and immatures duller brownish-red to olive-brown
• Stocky build with a short, thick, conical bill typical of tanagers

Similar species

• Crimson-backed Tanager is black overall with a red back and belly rather than being red-bodied throughout, and its range mostly does not overlap.
• Masked Crimson Tanager shows a black face mask and brighter scarlet plumage, and prefers riverside habitats.
• Scarlet-rumped Tanager (Central America) is black with a scarlet rump patch, quite different from the overall red body of the Silver-beaked Tanager.

Habitat

Favors forest edges, secondary growth, river-edge thickets, clearings, plantations, and gardens; generally avoids deep, unbroken primary forest interior.

Range

Widespread across the Amazon basin and adjacent lowlands, including Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil, mostly below 1,200 m elevation.

Migration

Non-migratory and resident throughout its range, though it can be locally nomadic in response to fruiting trees.

Behavior

Gregarious and conspicuous, usually seen in pairs or small flocks that often join mixed-species foraging groups at forest edges and fruiting trees.

Voice

Gives a sharp, husky "chip" or "tsuk" call note, along with a simple, scratchy warbling song that is not especially musical.

Feeding

Feeds mainly on soft fruit and berries, supplemented with insects and occasional nectar, typically foraging in the low and mid-story of edge habitats.

Nesting

Builds an open cup nest of plant fibers and rootlets low in dense vegetation; the female typically lays 2 eggs, and both parents help provision the young.