An unmistakable bird with his satin-red throat and iridescent steely-bluish wings. However, they are most distinctive for their namesake white cap that shines like sunlit snow.

Meet the White-capped tanager

The white-capped tanager (Sericossypha albocristata) is a South American bird in the tanager Thraupidae family. They average 24 cm in length and weigh about 114 g, and mostly bluish-black with a snow-white cap. The throat and upper breast are scarlet red.

Photo Courtesy of felixú / CC BY-SA 2.0

Females have a more saturated scarlet red on their upper breast and throat.

Juveniles are dull black with a white cap and no red.

Photo Courtesy of Félix Uribe / CC BY-SA 2.0

These tanagers can be found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru at elevations of 1600–3200 m.

They prefer to live in humid montane forests in family groups of up to 20 birds.

The White-capped Tanager eats fruits, seeds, from plants like hymenoptera, and coleoptera.

Photo Courtesy of Francesco Veronesi / CC BY-SA 2.0

The breeding behavior of the White-capped Tanager is not well known, but cooperative breeding is suspected. The white head and the red throat and breast probably play a role in courtship displays when enhanced by adapted postures. The cup-shaped nest is built in tree fern, well hidden by fronds.

The White-capped Tanager is common in montane forests on the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1700 – 2800 m south to Central Peru.

Photo Courtesy of Félix Uribe / CC BY-SA 2.0

Watch and listen to these stunning birds in the video below: