Red-throated Ant Tanager

The red-throated ant tanager (Driophlox fuscicauda) is a medium-sized passerine bird. This species is a resident breeder on the Caribbean slopes from southeastern Mexico to eastern Panama. It was formerly placed with the red-crowned ant tanager in the genus Habia. It was usually considered an aberrant kind of tanager and placed in the Thraupidae, but is actually closer to the cardinals (Cardinalidae). Consequently, it can be argued that referring to the members of this genus as ant tanagers is misleading, but no other common name has gained usage. Red-throated ant tanagers are 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weigh 40 g (1.4 oz). Adult males are dull dusky red, somewhat paler below, and with a bright red throat and central crown. The female is brownish olive, paler and greyer below, and with a yellow throat and small dull yellow crown stripe. Young birds are brown and lack the throat and crown patches. Both sexes of this species are duller and darker than the related red-crowned ant tanager which occurs on the Pacific slope in its Central American range. It occurs in thick undergrowth at the edge of forest, second growth or abandoned plantations at altitudes from sea level to 600…