Migration Research Foundation - Costa Rican birds - ID Library

BIRDS OF COSTA RICA

PHOTO LIBRARY

Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager / Tangara Hormiguera Carinegra (Habia atrimaxillaris)

QUICK TIPS:

1) Consider overall plumage - males are blackish-gray above with a bright orange throat, while females are a duller gray, with a salmon wash to the throat.

2) Check the iris - on adults it is orange-red, while on HY birds (remaining so for an unknown proportion of SY birds in spring) it is brownish.

3) Examine the wing - it appears that on SY birds, there may be a distinct moult limit between retained brown juvenile feathers (among the primary coverts, primaries, and secondaries) and replaced blackish adult feathers in those same tracts as well as the greater coverts. ASY birds in spring may also be undergoing active moult, but the contrast between old and new feathers is more subtle; the pattern, timing, and extent of moult require further study.

4) Look at the tail - HY/SY birds may have somewhat more narrow and tapered rectrices, while the rectrices of AHY/ASY birds may be broader and more rounded at the tip.

Species account updated March 2009

Ageing and sexing overview:

Spring:

ASY - M Blackish-gray above, orange throat; wing comprised entirely of adult feathers; rectrices relatively broad and rounded
ASY - F Dark gray above, salmon throat; wing comprised entirely of adult feathers; rectrices relatively broad and rounded
SY - U Dull gray above, variable amount of yellow or orange in the throat; wing retaining some brown juvenile feathers; rectrices somewhat narrow and tapered

Ageing and sexing details:

SPRING: ASY-M (after-second-year male)

Adult males are somewhat darker on the back and head than females, and have brighter plumage in the throat; the colours on this individual are somewhat washed out by virtue of having accidentally been photographed using a flash.