Puerto Rican Tanager

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Puerto Rican Tanager
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Thraupidae Genus: Nesospingus Sclater, 1885 Species: N. speculiferus
Binomial name
Nesospingus speculiferus (Lawrence, 1875)

The Puerto Rican Tanager (Nesospingus speculiferus) is a small passerine bird endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico. It is the only member of the Nesospingus genus of the tanager family.

On average it measures 16 cm and weights 36 g. Groups of about 12 individual. Hang out in dense vegetation. Roost in palm trees or bamboo. The Puerto Rican Tanager eats palm fruits, ants and species from the Cecropia genus. Evidence shows that they also eat spiders, lizards and frogs. Cup-shaped nest no higher than 9 m in tree. Cream colored eggs speckled with a darker shade of brown. The species breeds from January to August.

[edit] See also

• List of endemic fauna of Puerto Rico
• List of Puerto Rican birds

[edit] References

• BirdLife International (2004). Nesospingus speculiferus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern