All species › Passerines › Finches, euphonias and allies › Fulvous-vented Euphonia
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Fulvous-vented Euphonia | Euphonia fulvicrissa
Roestbuikorganist | Eufonia ventrileonada
The Fulvous-vented Euphonia is a small euphonia of the humid lowland forest of central and eastern Panama, extending south into western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. The male is blue-black and yellow with a tawny belly and undertail; that warm tone separates it from the related euphonias in the same forest.
Voice
The call is a dry, quick chip-chip or a short, metallic rattle. The song is a hurried series of chirps and short whistled notes.
Recording: Juan Freile — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
9–10 cm. Small and stocky, with a short, thick bill. Male: upperparts, sides of head and throat glossy blue-black; forecrown yellow to about above the eye. Breast and flanks yellow, centre of belly and undertail coverts warm tawny; outer tail feathers with white on the underside. Female: upperparts olive-green with a rufous forehead; underparts olive-yellow, tinged tawny on the belly centre and undertail.
Confusion species
White-vented Euphonia Euphonia minuta has a white rather than tawny belly and undertail. Thick-billed Euphonia Euphonia laniirostris has a yellow throat; Yellow-crowned Euphonia Euphonia luteicapilla has an entirely yellow crown and a yellow undertail. The female Orange-bellied Euphonia Euphonia xanthogaster also has a rufous forehead, but a grey nape and greyer underparts without a tawny belly.
Habitat
Canopy and edges of humid lowland forest, also tall secondary forest, gallery forest and the edges of clearings in forest; mainly below 800 m. It lives in pairs or small groups, often in mixed flocks with tanagers and other euphonias. It feeds mainly on mistletoe berries and small fruit.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
In the guide area in central and eastern Panama, from the Canal area eastward, on both sides of the continental divide, to Darién. Outside the guide area in western Colombia and north-western Ecuador.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In lowland forest around the Panama Canal and in Darién, several euphonias often gather in one fruiting tree; seen from below, the tawny undertail is the best feature.
Conservation status
Not threatened (LC). Fairly common in suitable forest; vulnerable to deforestation in the lowlands of eastern Panama.
Scientific name
Euphonia fulvicrissa | Sclater, 1857
Sclater described the species in 1857 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Euphonia was introduced in 1806 by Desmarest, A-G. Euphonia is Greek, from eu 'good' and phōnē 'sound': 'sweet-voiced', after the pleasing calls. fulvicrissa is Latin, from fulvus 'tawny' and crissum 'vent', after the tawny undertail. The specimen the first description was based on came from Santa Marta, Colombia (uncertain).