Hooded Mountain Tanager

Adults have a striking black head, throat, and upper breast with a contrasting bright yellow breast patch and belly center. The upperparts and wing coverts are deep cobalt blue to turquoise. Flight feathers are blackish edged with blue. Juveniles are duller with less distinct contrasts.

Velvety black head and throat contrasting with a bright yellow breast patch, flanked by brilliant blue upperparts and dark flight feathers.

Length: approximately 16-18 cm; Weight: around 35-45 g

High-pitched chips, thin squeaks, and quiet chattering calls typical of tanagers in a flock.

Frugivorous and insectivorous; feeds on small berries, fruits, and gleans insects from foliage and mossy branches.

Humid montane forests, cloud forests, and dense secondary growth, typically at elevations between 900 and 2,200 meters.

Resident (non-migratory), though local altitudinal movements may occur.

Builds a bulky cup nest of moss, rootlets, and plant fibers hidden in dense vegetation or epiphytes on trees.

Other members of the genus Bangsia, such as the Golden-chested Tanager, but distinguished by the extensive black hood and bright yellow central underparts.

Acts as an important seed disperser and insect predator within its montane forest ecosystem.

Least Concern, with populations stable though locally threatened by deforestation.

Look for them in the mid-to-upper strata of humid montane forests and forest edges, often by listening for their vocalizations in mixed-species flocks.

Tanagers represent one of the largest families of birds, with the genus Bangsia named in honor of the American zoologist Outram Bangs.