Black-chested Fruiteater

Fruiteaters are stocky birds with short tails and short tarsi (lower legs). The black-chested fruiteater is a medium-size fruiteater with a length of 18 cm (7.1 in). The male has a black head, throat and upper breast. The upper parts of the body are bright green and the underparts yellowish-green with mottling on the flanks. The female lacks the black head region and has a bright green back, throat and cheat and underparts streaked with yellow and green. The iris is yellow in both sexes, the beak pinkish-orange and the legs greenish-grey. This species could be confused with the green-and-black fruiteater (Pipreola riefferii), but the latter species has pale barring on the tertial wing feathers, and a yellow border to the black chest in the male. The song is a faint, high-pitched ascending whistle "tseeeeeeweee", and there are further short, rising and falling, whistling calls.

The black-chested fruiteater is native to the Andean region of South America. Its range extends on the eastern side of the Andes from southern Colombia, through Ecuador, to northern Peru; it is found in montane forests and its altitudinal range is 1,500 to 2,300 m (4,900 to 7,500 ft). It also occurs as separate populations locally on the western side of the Andes at Cajamarca and in the south of Marañón Province.