White-shouldered tanager

Loriotus luctuosus

The white-shouldered tanager (Loriotus luctuosus) is a medium-sized passerine bird.

Family: Thraupidae Order: passerines Conservation: Least Concern

About the White-shouldered tanager

The white-shouldered tanager (Loriotus luctuosus) is a medium-sized passerine bird. This tanager is a resident breeder from Honduras to Panama, South America south to Ecuador and southern Brazil, and on Trinidad. It occurs in forests and cocoa plantations. The bulky cup nest is built in low vegetation, and the female lays three brown-blotched cream eggs. White-shouldered tanagers are 14 cm long and weigh 14 g. They are long-tailed and with a mostly black stout pointed bill. The adult male is glossy black, apart from white underwing coverts and a conspicuous white shoulder patch. The shoulder patch is the most obvious difference from the similar but larger white-lined tanager, in which the smaller white area is rarely visible except in flight. Females and immatures have olive upperparts, ye

Fun Facts About White-shouldered tanager

White-shouldered tanagers are 14 cm long and weigh 14 g.
The bulky cup nest is built in low vegetation, and the female lays three brown-blotched cream eggs.
They often associate with other insectivorous birds in wandering feeding flocks.
The white-shouldered tanager's song is a fast repetitive tchirrup.
The shoulder patch is the most obvious difference from the similar but larger white-lined tanager, in which the smaller white area is rarely visible except in flight.

Conservation Status

The White-shouldered tanager is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. This species is currently stable and not at significant risk of population decline.

Taxonomy & Classification

Order	passerines
Family	Thraupidae
Genus	Loriotus
Species	Loriotus luctuosus