Costa Rica and western Panama The flame-colored tanager inhabits the canopy of humid montane forest and large trees in non-forested areas such as pastures, coffee plantations, and gardens. In much of its range it is also found in open oak and pine-oak woodlands. It is generally a bird of the mountains but can be found near sea level in Guatemala. In Mexico it ranges from to treeline and in Panama lives at and higher. On the Caribbean slope in Costa Rica it ranges from and on the Pacific slope can be found as low as . It is largely resident but may seek lower elevations in winter. Those found in the United States are pre- and post-breeding wanderers and rarely nesters, with several sightings and one specimen collected in Texas. Behavior Feeding The flame-colored tanager's diet is small arthropods and a variety of berries. It usually forages alone or in pairs, but will join mixed-species foraging flocks. Though it usually hunts through the tops of trees, it also sallies out for flying insects and sometimes descends to near the ground to glean fruit. It has been reported ambushing swarms of army ants (Eciton burchellii) carrying wasp larvae and pupae, and eating both ant and wasp. The predatory status of this bird has been documented to prey on certain types of arthropods found within the Sonoran canopy as it dives to catch insects and often those being carried by army ants. Breeding The flame-colored tanager's nest is an open cup of fairly coarse material lined with fine grass; it can be placed in dense foliage or in isolated trees or shrubs in a more open area. Breeding has been documented in April and May. Vocalization The flame-colored tanager's song is similar to a vireo's, a "rich, musical... 'chewee-very-vire, chewee-very-vire-very, cheery-cheweea...'". Its call is "per-dick" or "chi-dick". Status The IUCN has assessed the flame-colored tanager as being of Least Concern. The species occurs in several protected areas, and is "less sensitive to environmental disturbance than are many species." References Further reading External links Flame-colored Tanager videos on the Internet Bird Collection Flame-colored Tanager photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res; Article, w/ synopsis and photo gallery – fireflyforest.net–"Arizona Birds"-(The Firefly Forest) flame-colored tanager Birds of Mexico Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental Birds of the Sierra Madre Oriental Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur Birds of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Birds of Central