Azure-rumped Tanager

Its plumage is mostly pale blue, with a purplish-blue crown, dark lores and lower auriculars, and distinctive dark spots across the chest. The mantle is mottled greenish-blue and black. The wings and tail are black with blue edgings. The bill is gray with a dark tip. Cabanis's tanagers utter several sibilant vocalizations, hard trills and twitters. The azure-rumped tanager is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and arthropods. In Guatemala, abundance was positively correlated with the density of Ficus aurea trees. Figs of that tree are a main food source. The nesting season ranges from April to September, during which azure-rumped tanagers move in pairs or family groups. Cooperative breeding has been reported. Outside the breeding season, larger flocks of up to 18 birds have been reported. The azure-rumped tanager is Vulnerable because of deforestation to clear the way for coffee plantations. In Guatemala, only 21% or 25,000 ha (62,000 acres) of the potential area of distribution are still covered with broadleaf forest, the tanager's prime habitat. 80,000 ha or 68% of the potential area of distribution is covered with coffee plantations. It is estimated that there are 8,250–23,250 birds left in Guatemala. …