Bird
Bird
White-lined Tanager
Tachyphonus rufus
The White-lined Tanager is a common bird of Trinidad's gardens and forest edge, its plumage a study in contrasts: glossy black males with a barely visible white wing stripe, paired with warm cinnamon-brown females, both frequently seen at forest-edge fruiting shrubs.
The White-lined Tanager is a common bird of Trinidad's gardens and forest edge, its plumage a study in contrasts: glossy black males with a barely visible white wing stripe, paired with warm cinnamon-brown females, both frequently seen at forest-edge fruiting shrubs.
Identification
A medium-sized tanager around 18 cm long. Males are entirely glossy black except for a thin white line along the bend of the folded wing, visible mainly in flight or at close range. Females and immatures are warm cinnamon-brown overall, considerably plainer than the male, with a paler throat. The strong difference between the sexes can make them look like different species to new observers.
Behaviour
Forages in pairs or small groups at low to middle levels in forest edge, secondary growth, and gardens, taking fruit, seeds, and insects. It is a confiding, often conspicuous bird that readily visits fruiting shrubs and feeders, and its simple, whistled song is a familiar sound of forest-edge habitat. Nests are a small cup built low in dense vegetation.
Status in T&T
Common and widespread across Trinidad in forest edge, secondary growth, plantations, and gardens with fruiting shrubs. Not threatened, and one of the tanagers most tolerant of disturbed and semi-urban habitat. It is protected as native wildlife under the Conservation of Wildlife Act.
