Rufous-headed Tanager (Hemithraupis ruficapilla)

Rufous-headed Tanager (Hemithraupis ruficapilla)

Brazil

The Rufous-headed Tanager is a Brazilian endemic and is restricted to south-east Brazil from southern Bahia to the east of Santa Catarina. See the distribution map at xeno-canto. It is found in forest borders and light woodland where it tends to forage on the upper canopy (which may explain why there seem to be few photos of this species.)

It is closely related to Guira Tanager H. guira but these two species only come into contact in the interior of south-east Brazil.

The male has olive-green upperparts and a yellow rump. The head is mostly rufous with yellow behind the ear-coverts. Underparts are grey with a rufous breast and yellow in the centre of the belly. The bill is yellow with a darker maxilla.

Female Rufous-headed Tanager, Parque de Zizo, São Paulo, Brazil, November 2006 - click for larger image

Given the patchy nature of the rufous on the head of the bird in photos 1 and 2 I assume that this is a sub-adult male. It appeared to form a pair with the female in photos 3 and 4 so they may begin to breed before reaching full adult plumage.

The female is very similar to the female Guira Tanager and may not be distinguishable in the field.

Note the yellow-olive upperparts with the yellow rump, the grey flanks, the yellow broken eye-ring and the yellow bill with darker maxilla.

Rufous-headed Tanager, Serra da Canastra, Minas Gerais, Brazil, October 2022 - click for larger image

Rufous-headed Tanager, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil, October 2022 - click for larger image

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