A black goggled face and a vibrant yellow striped crown make for a startlingly compelling appearance on this restless little bird!

Meet The Black-goggled Tanager

Photo Courtesy of Francesco Veronesi / CC BY-SA 2.0

The black-goggled tanager (Trichothraupis melanops) is a species was first noted in southeastern Peru in 2000. Males have black masks, with their crowns topped off with a yellow stripe. Males also have an olive-gray head and back and are buff below with dark wings and tails.

Females lack the yellow crown and black mask and are generally more cinnamon below.

Juvenile males also lack the black mask.

Photo Courtesy of Luiz Carlos Rocha / CC BY-SA 2.0

Black-goggled tanager is found at low levels in forests and wooded areas in a large part of eastern and southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina, with a disjunct population along the East Andean slope in Peru, Bolivia, and far north-western Argentina.

This species appears to like wet montane and foothill forested areas on the lower eastern Andean slope and locally in directly adjacent lowland forests.

Black-goggled tanager forage for fruit, sometimes taking to the wing to catch insects in mid-air.

Little is known about the breeding habits of this species other than they breed during October and November in Brazil, building cup-shaped nests.

Generally common and widespread they are consequently considered to be of least concern by the IUCN, the population associated with the Andes is relatively local and uncommon.

You can watch this bird right here in the video below: