Grass-green tanager
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Chlorornis riefferii.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Chlorornis
| parent_authority = Reichenbach, 1850
| species = riefferii
| authority = (Boissonneau, 1840)
| range_map = Chlorornis riefferii map.svg
}}
The grass-green tanager (Chlorornis riefferii) is a small South America bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Chlorornis.
The grass-green tanager is 20 cm in length and weighs 53g. It lives in and around subtropical and temperate forests in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru at elevations of 1500–3350 m.
It is seen in pairs or in groups of 3-6 individuals. It forages mostly on the upper half of short trees and eats fruits and insects. It is known to perch almost horizontally. Its nest is made of mosses and ferns, and its eggs are gray with light purple-grey dots.
Taxonomy
The grass-green tanager was formally described in 1840 by the French ornithologist Auguste Boissonneau from a specimen collected near Bogotá in Colombia. He coined the binomial name Tanagra riefferii.{{ cite journal | last=Boissonneau | first=Auguste | author-link=Auguste Boissonneau | year=1840 | title=Oiseaux nouveaux ou peu connus de Santa-Fé de Bogota | language=French | journal=Revue Zoologique | volume=3 | pages=2–18 [3] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13714038 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1970 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=13 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=252 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483487 }} The species is now the only member of the genus Chlorornis that was introduced in 1850 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.{{ cite book | last=Reichenbach | first=Ludwig | author-link=Ludwig Reichenbach | year=1850 | title=Avium Systema Naturale | volume=1 | publisher=Friedrich Hofmeister | language=German | place=Dresden and Leipzig | at=Plate LXXVII | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47618519}} For the publication date see: {{ cite book | last1=Dickinson | first1=E.C. | author1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | last2=Overstreet | first2=L.K. | last3=Dowsett | first3=R.J. | last4=Bruce | first4=M.D. | year=2011 | title=Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers | location=Northampton, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-1-5 | page=133 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267763194 }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2020 | title=Tanagers and allies | work=IOC World Bird List Version 10.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/tanagers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=3 November 2020 }} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek khlōros meaning "green" and ornis meaning "bird". The specific epithet was chosen to honour the collector Gabriel Rieffer.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=103, 336 }} The grass-green tanager has a sister relationship to the genus Cnemathraupis containing the black-chested mountain tanager and the golden-backed mountain tanager.{{cite journal| last1=Burns | first1=K.J. | last2=Shultz | first2=A.J. | last3=Title | first3=P.O. | last4=Mason | first4=N.A. | last5=Barker | first5=F.K. | last6=Klicka | first6=J. | last7=Lanyon | first7=S.M. | last8=Lovette | first8=I.J. | year=2014 | title=Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution| volume=75| pages=41–77 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006 | pmid=24583021 | url=https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3613&context=biosci_pubs }}
Five subspecies are recognised:
- C. r. riefferii (Boissonneau, 1840) – Colombia and Ecuador
- C. r. dilutus Zimmer, JT, 1947 – north Peru
- C. r. elegans (Tschudi, 1844) – central Peru
- C. r. celatus Zimmer, JT, 1947 – south Peru
- C. r. bolivianus (Berlepsch, 1912) – west Bolivia
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Chlorornis-riefferii Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the grass-green tanager]
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{{Passeroidea|T.|state=collapsed}}
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