Crimson-backed Tanager

The crimson-backed tanager is about 16 cm (6.3 in) long and weighs about 24 to 34 g (0.85 to 1.2 oz). It has a heavy bill with a wide base to the mandible. The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies R. d. dimidiatus have a deep blackish maroon-red head, mantle, throat, and breast. The color changes to redder on the back and bright red on the lower back, rump, and uppertail coverts. Their head has a plush appearance and their back is shiny. Their wings and tail are black. Their lower breast, belly, and undertail coverts are mostly bright red with black thighs and black in the center of the belly. Adult females have a similar pattern to males but are much duller overall. Their head and mantle are dusky brown with a reddish tinge and their throat is nearly black. Their back is dull reddish and their lower back, rump, breast, and belly are a much duller red than the male's. Immature birds resemble adult females. The other subspecies of the crimson-backed tanager differ from the nominate and each other thus:

R. d. arestus: darkest subspecies; males with less black on the belly but deeper red especially on the belly; females darker than others R. d. limatus: males have less black on the belly and their red parts are more scarlet (less orangey) R. d. …

The subspecies of the crimson-backed tanager are found thus:

R. d. arestus: Coiba Island in the Pacific off western Panama R. d. limatus: Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama R. d. dimidiatus: all of Panama except the far northwest and across northern Colombia into western Venezuela. In Colombia its southern limit is the upper valley of the Cauca River, the lower valley of the Magdalena River, and Norte de Santander Department. In Venezuela it surrounds Lake Maracaibo from northwestern Zulia south to northern Táchira and then northeast to eastern Zulia and Trujillo state R. d. molochinus: upper valley of the Magdalena River in west-central Colombia The species escaped or was released from a private aviary in Tahiti in the early twentieth century and is established there. The crimson-backed tanager primarily inhabits somewhat open landscapes including the edges of moist to humid forest, shrublands, and areas near people such as farmland, parks, and gardens. It is found less often in dry scrublands and seldom in the interior of humid forest except on Coiba Island. In elevation it ranges from sea level to about 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in Panama, to 2,200 m (7,200 ft) in Colombia, and to 1,300 m (4,300 ft) in Venezuela.

The crimson-backed tanager feeds on insects, fruit, and seeds. In the breeding season it usually forages in pairs or family groups and outside it in flocks of its species. It sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It feeds mostly in the undergrowth and up to middle levels on the edge of forest. It takes most food while hopping through foliage and also visits feeding stations for fruit. It often roosts in flocks that may number more than 50 individuals.