Thered-crowned ant tanager (Habia rubica) is a medium-sizedpasserine bird fromtropicalAmerica. It is the only species now placed in the genusHabia. This species was long placed with thetanagers (Thraupidae), but it is actually closer to the cardinals (Cardinalidae).
The red-crowned ant tanager wasformally described in 1817 by the French ornithologistLouis Pierre Vieillot. He placed it in thegenusSaltator (which he misspelled asStaltator) and coined thebinomial nameSaltator rubicus. He specified thelocality as Paraguay.[2][3] The specific epithet is fromMedieval Latinrubicus meaning "reddish".[4] The red-crowned ant tanager is now the only species placed in the genusHabia that was introduced in 1840 byEdward Blyth.[5][6] The genus name is a word used for various finches and tanagers in theGuarani language of Paraguay.[7]
The red-crowned ant tanagers is 17–19 cm (6.7–7.5 in) long and weighs 28–43 g (0.99–1.52 oz) (male) or 23–37 g (0.81–1.31 oz) (female). The adult male of thenominate subspecies is dull reddish brown with a brighter red throat and breast. The black-bordered scarlet crown stripe is raised when the bird is excited. The female is yellowish brown with a yellow throat and yellow-buff crown stripe.[8]
It is a shy but noisy bird. Its call is a rattle followed by a musicalpee-pee-pee.[8]
This bird is a resident breeder fromMexico south toParaguay and northernArgentina, and onTrinidad. Common in its wide range, it is not considered threatened by theIUCN.[1] It favors the middle stratum of the forest as well as undergrowth rich inferns,shrubs andherbs.[9]
These birds are found in pairs or family groups. They eat mainlyarthropods, butberries are also taken. InCentral America and Trinidad they frequently attendarmy ant columns, and in the lowland forests of southeasternBrazil they may be a nuclear species of understorymixed-species feeding flocks – though further uphill, e.g. in theSerra de Paranapiacaba, they seem to join such flocks only rarely and prefer to follow the ants on their own.[10] They also followSouth American coatis (Nasua nasua) on their feeding excursions, namely in the dry season.[11] In both cases, they arecommensales, snatching invertebrate prey startled by the ants or coatis.
The shallowcup nest is built by the female. It is usually placed in a sapling ortree fern near a stream. The normal clutch is two to three brown-blotched white eggs. These are incubated by the female for 13–14 days prior to hatching. The chicks are fed by both parents and leave the nest when about ten days old, before they are able to fly. They then hop around and hide in thick foliage.[8]
^abcHilty, S.L. (2011)."Family Thraupidae (Tanagers)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.).Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 16: Tanagers to New World Blackbirds. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 46–329 [319].ISBN978-84-96553-78-1.
^de Mello Beisiegel, Beatriz (2007). "Foraging Association between Coatis (Nasua nasua) and Birds of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil".Biotropica.39 (2). The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation:283–285.doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00255.x.
Skutch, Alexander F. (1954)."Red ant tanager"(PDF).Life Histories of Central American Birds. Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 31. Berkeley, California: Cooper Ornithological Society. pp. 176–182.
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