Flame-crested Tanager

The flame-crested tanager is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs 16.5 to 23.0 g (0.58 to 0.81 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies L. c. cristatus have the eponymous scarlet or orange crest with a thin buff band below its front and sides. They are otherwise mostly black. They have a fulvous or yellowish buff rump, white lesser wing coverts and underwing coverts, and a thin yellowish buff streak in the middle of the throat. Adult females have a rufescent brown crown and a grayish face. Their upperparts are rufescent brown that is richest on the lower back and tail. Their throat is buffy gray to whitish and their underparts bright ochraceous buff. Juveniles are similar to adult females. The other subspecies of the flame-crested tanager differ from the nominate and each other thus:

L. c. intercedens: orange-yellow crest; female has more olivaceous upperparts L. c. cristatellus: scarlet crest and duller chin and throat L. c. orinocensis: much like cristatellus L. c. fallax: orange crest with smaller buff band L. c. huarandosae: longer crest and smaller rump and throat patches L. c. madeirae: shorter scarlet crest with no buff and deeper ochraceous throat patch L. c. pallidigula: short deep red crest and light ochraceous rump and throat patches L. c. …

The flame-crested tanager has a disjunct distribution; L. c. brunneus is separate from the other subspecies. The subspecies are found thus:

L. c. cristatus: French Guiana and north of the Amazon River in far northeastern Brazil's Amapá and northeastern Pará states L. c. intercedens: from Venezuela's eastern Bolívar state east through Guyana and Suriname L. c. orinocensis: from Colombia east of Meta Department into southern Venezuela's Amazonas and most of Bolívar states L. c. cristatellus: from central Colombia's Meta and Vichada departments southeast into northwestern Brazil and northeastern Peru L. c. fallax: from Colombia south of Meta and Vichada departments south through eastern Ecuador into northern Peru's lower Ucayali River valley on an approximate line from far northern Cajamarca Department east to east-central Loreto Department L. c. huarandosae: Huarandosa vicinity in northern Peru's Chinchipe River valley in Cajamarca L. c. madeirae: Brazil south of the Amazon from central Amazonas east to the Xingu River and south to Mato Grosso, Peru's eastern Madre de Dios Department, and northern Bolivia's Pando and northern Beni departments L. c. pallidigula: Brazil south of the Amazon east of the Xingu to the Atlantic in Maranhão L. c. …

The flame-crested tanager feeds on insects and lesser amounts of fruits and seeds. It forages from the forest's mid-level to its canopy, energetically gleaning prey from foliage. It is usually in pairs but sometimes in groups of up to 10 individuals and almost always is part of a mixed-species feeding flock.