Chat-tanagers | Calyptophilidae

Chattangaren | Chat-tangaras

This family consists of two species of the genus Calyptophilus, the Western and the Eastern Chat-Tanager, both found only on Hispaniola. For a long time they were placed with the tanagers; on the basis of recent genetic research they have been given a family of their own, which belongs to a small group of Caribbean songbird families. They are birds of about twenty centimetres with a long, rounded tail, dark olive-brown upperparts, a white throat and breast, and yellow or orange-yellow on the lores, around the eye and at the bend of the wing. They live hidden in the dense undergrowth of montane forest and humid scrub, searching low down or on the ground for insects, other invertebrates and fruit. The song is loud and varied and heard mainly at dawn and dusk, and is often the only sign of their presence. The two species differ mainly in range and in details of colour and size. Both have a small range and depend on undisturbed forest.