Blue-necked Tanager (Stilpnia cyanicollis)

Identification & Behavior: ~13 cm (5.1 in). The Blue-necked Tanager is mostly black with a bright blue head. The wings and rump are golden to bluish. It forages in the canopy of humid montane forest and forest edges often in the company of mixed species flocks. It is similar to the Masked Tanager by is distinguished by having solid black underparts,  by ranging at higher elevations, and by golden-bluish wings.

Status: The Blue-necked Tanager is common in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 800-2200 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Tangara de Cuello Azul.

Sub-species: Blue-necked Tanager (Stilpnia cyanicollis caeruleocephala), (Swainson), 1838.   Colombia (head of Magdalena Valley in Huila, and E Andes in Boyacá and Cundinamarca and, on E slope, S to Nariño) S on E slope to N Peru (S to La Libertad and, Huallaga Valley, in N San Martín).
(Stilpnia cyanicollis cyanicollis), (d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye), 1837.  E slope of Andes in Peru (from Huánuco) S to Bolivia (to Cochabamba).

Meaning of Name: Stilpnia: Gr. Stilpnos= glistening, glittering. cyanicollis: L. cyaneus= dark-blue, collis, collum= necked, throated.

Formerly known as Tangara cyanicollis (2018).

See more of the Family Thraupidae