Scarlet-rumped Tanager
Ramphocelus passerinii
eBird describes the Scarlet-rumped Tanager this way: Fairly common in humid tropical lowlands. Favors evergreen forest edges, plantations, and verdant second growth, such as areas along roadsides. Forages mainly at low to middle levels often in fairly noisy small groups. Male is unmistakable if seen clearly: velvety black with a blinding scarlet rump. Female is very different: note distinctive bluish-white bill, tawny rump, and grayish head. Formerly known as Cherrie’s Tanager and Passerini’s Tanager.
The Birds of the World site contains this detailed introduction to the Scarlet-rumped Tanager:
Speaking of his experience with the nominate subspecies as he observed it in eastern Nicaragua, Charles W. Richmond wrote: “It fairly swarms in all favorable situations, and is one of the first birds to impress the eye of a foreigner. The birds spend the day romping about in the bashes or in the banana plantations, chasing one another here and there, with no apparent reason other than to pass away the time.”
Richmond’s words have been mirrored in other authors’ accounts of Scarlet-rumped Tanager across its range. It is a gregarious bird that occurs along the Caribbean slope of Central America from southern Mexico to northeastern Panama and on the Pacific coast in Costa Rican and western Panama. It is a sexually dimorphic species, with two subspecies. Males of both subspecies appear similar, with a striking combination of black plumage contrasting with a scarlet-red patch that extends from the lower back to the rump. Females are more variable, ranging from gray and dusky yellow (passerinii) to gray, yellow, and orangish (costaricensis).
One of the most conspicuous and abundant birds within its range, it is most commonly found at forest edges, clearings, and second growth. Like many tanagers, it has a varied diet of fruits and arthropods and forms social breeding pairs, though there is high occurrence of extra-pair offspring. It forms loose flocks and does not defend territories.
The two subspecies recognized herein have formerly been considered to be full species; known respectively as Cherrie’s Tanager (costaricensis) and Passerini’s Tanager (passerinii). Subspecies costaricensis‘s is the better-studied of the two subspecies (despite its smaller range; being found only in western Costa Rican and Panama) largely because of the exhaustive dedication of Alexander F. Skutch, who studied them for many years on his farm in Costa Rica.
I saw my first Scarlet-rumped Tanager on the morning of February 5, 2023 at the Donde Copé blind. It turns out that the bird I saw was a female. Luckily I got a very good photo and was able to positively identify the bird once I returned home. At the very next site we visited (Nectar & Pollen) I saw one of the striking males, and I ended up seeing many more during the course of my trip. Below are my photos. To see my blog post of my Costa Rica trip, look here.
