Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Sylvia Qu and Regis Nossent and is used with their permission.
CHESTNUT-HEADED TANAGER Pyrrhocoma ruficeps ATLANTIC FOREST
A handsome, but secretive tanager of dense undergrowth in humid forest. Males are mostly grey with a bright chestnut head and black mask. Females are quite different, smaller and greener with a paler brownish-orange head and slight yellowish eyebrow. Much more often heard than seen, the call of the male has a strange buzzy quality. Occurs in pairs or small groups, occasionally glimpsed flitting quietly through tangled vegetation, flicking the tail nervously as it does so.
Click on the images to enlarge them.

FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE2202PH) Adult male, Hotel Tirol, Departamento Itapúa (Regis Nossent June 2005).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE2203PH) Adult female, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Sylvia Qu June 2008).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE2204PH) Adult female, Hotel Tirol, Departamento Itapúa (Regis Nossent June 2005).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE2205PH) Same individual upperwing (Paul Smith June 2005).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE2206PH) Same individual head detail showing ticks (Regis Nossent June 2005).
VIDEO - (FPAVE2207VI)  Adult female, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith April 2010).
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Pyrrhocoma ruficeps
1 (FPAVE2208RE) song  recorded PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith March 2007).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website Xeno-Canto - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.