The Thraupidae are a family of passerine birds found in the Americas. About 60% of tanagers live in South America, and 30% of these species live in the Andes. Most species are endemic to a relatively small area. In addition to "tanagers", dacnis, finches, flowerpiercers, honeycreepers, seedeaters, and many other diversely named species are included in Thraupidae. The tangara genus includes some of the most spectacularly colored birds of the world.
Tanagers are omnivorous, and their diets vary from genus to genus. They have been seen eating fruits, seeds, nectar, flower parts, and insects. Many pick insects off branches. Other species look for insects on the undersides of leaves. Yet others wait on branches until they see a flying insect and catch it in the air.
Some birds that are called Tanagers are actually in the Cardinal family Cardinalidae.
Genus Diglossa
Flowerpiercers use their hooked bills to obtain nectar by ripping apart the base of the flower. Thus, unlike hummingbirds, they do not aid the pollination process. Diglossa refers to the characteristic forked tongue of this genus, which is used for more effective nectar collection.
Flowerpiercer,_Black Diglossa humeralis Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Flowerpiercer,_Black-throated Diglossa brunneiventris Found: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru
Flowerpiercer,_Bluish Diglossa caerulescens Found: Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Flowerpiercer,_Chestnut-bellied Diglossa gloriosissima Found: Columbia
Flowerpiercer,_Cinnamon-bellied Diglossa baritula Found: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico.
1, 2) Female 3) Male
Flowerpiercer,_Deep-blue Diglossa glauca Found: Andes from Columbia to Bolivia
Flowerpiercer,_Glossy Diglossa lafresnayii Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Flowerpiercer,_Gray-bellied Diglossa carbonaria Found: Bolivia
Flowerpiercer,_Greater Diglossa major Found: southeastern Venezuela, adjacent Guyana and adjancent Brazil
Flowerpiercer,_Indigo Diglossa indigotica Found: lower west Andean slopes in Ecuador and Colombia
Flowerpiercer,_Masked Diglossa cyanea Found: South America
Flowerpiercer,_Merida Diglossa gloriosa Found: Venezuela
Flowerpiercer,_Moustached Diglossa mystacalis Found: Bolivia, Peru
Flowerpiercer,_Rusty Diglossa sittoides Found: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Flowerpiercer,_Scaled Diglossa duidae Found: southwest Venezuela and adjacent Brazil
Flowerpiercer,_Slaty Diglossa plumbea Found: Costa Rica, Panama
Flowerpiercer,_Venezuelan Diglossa venezuelensis Found: Venezuela
1) Female 2) Male
Flowerpiercer,_White-sided Diglossa albilatera Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
1, 2) Female 3) Male
1) Shows the flowerpiecer cutting the base of the flower with its bill.
Tanagers are omnivorous, and their diets vary from genus to genus. They have been seen eating fruits, seeds, nectar, flower parts, and insects. Many pick insects off branches. Other species look for insects on the undersides of leaves. Yet others wait on branches until they see a flying insect and catch it in the air.
Some birds that are called Tanagers are actually in the Cardinal family Cardinalidae.
Genus Diglossa
Flowerpiercers use their hooked bills to obtain nectar by ripping apart the base of the flower. Thus, unlike hummingbirds, they do not aid the pollination process. Diglossa refers to the characteristic forked tongue of this genus, which is used for more effective nectar collection.
Flowerpiercer,_Black Diglossa humeralis Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
The Black Flowerpiercer has usually no shoulder patch but mayalso have gray shouler patch; otherwise has all black plumage.
Similar to: Glossy Flowerpiercer. Black Flowerpiecer has either no shoulder patch or a gray shoulder patch; Glossy Flowerpiercer has bluish tint to its shoulder patch.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Ecuador 2) Lip Kee - Ecuador 3) Dave_Curtis - ColumbiaSimilar to: Glossy Flowerpiercer. Black Flowerpiecer has either no shoulder patch or a gray shoulder patch; Glossy Flowerpiercer has bluish tint to its shoulder patch.
Flowerpiercer,_Black-throated Diglossa brunneiventris Found: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru
The Black-throated Flowerpiercer has mainly blackish upperparts; black throat; rufous underparts with gray flanks; gray rump.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - Chinchero, Peru 2) Nick Athanas - Peru
Flowerpiercer,_Bluish Diglossa caerulescens Found: Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
The Bluish Flowerpiecer has dull bluish-gray pluamage; darker head; paler underparts; red eyes.
Image by: 1) Andres_Cuervo - Venezuela 2) Nick Athanas - Ecuador 
Flowerpiercer,_Chestnut-bellied Diglossa gloriosissima Found: Columbia
The Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer has mainly black upperparts, head, breast; white shoulder patch; chestnut belly.
Similar to: Merida Flowerpiercer. The range of Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer and range of Merida Flowerpiercer do not overlap.
Image by: 1) Alejandro_Tamayo - Columbia 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online-Ciro_Albano - ColumbiaSimilar to: Merida Flowerpiercer. The range of Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer and range of Merida Flowerpiercer do not overlap.
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Flowerpiercer,_Cinnamon-bellied Diglossa baritula Found: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico.
The male Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer has blue-gray upperparts; chestnut underparts. Female has olive-brown upperparts; paler underparts.
Image by: 1 Pablo_Leautaud - Mexico 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Manuel_Becerril_Gonzale 3) Francesco_Veronesi - Mexico.jpg){kind=link}
1, 2) Female 3) Male
Flowerpiercer,_Deep-blue Diglossa glauca Found: Andes from Columbia to Bolivia
The Deep-blue Flowerpiercer has deep blue pluamge; yellow eyes.
Image by: 1) José_Loaiza - Ecuador 2) Chrystopher_Canaday - Ecuador
Flowerpiercer,_Glossy Diglossa lafresnayii Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
The Glossy Flowerpiercer has bluish-white shoulder patch. Male has mainly glossy black plumage.
Similar to: Black Flowerpiercer. Black Flowerpiecer has either no shoulder patch or a gray shoulder patch; Glossy Flowerpiercer has bluish tint to its shoulder patch.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Ecuador 2) Vince_Smith - Ecuador 3) Tony_Castro - EcuadorSimilar to: Black Flowerpiercer. Black Flowerpiecer has either no shoulder patch or a gray shoulder patch; Glossy Flowerpiercer has bluish tint to its shoulder patch.
Flowerpiercer,_Gray-bellied Diglossa carbonaria Found: Bolivia
The Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer has mainly black plumage; gray shoulder region, rump belly.
Image by: 1) Glen_Bartley Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ian_Davies
Flowerpiercer,_Greater Diglossa major Found: southeastern Venezuela, adjacent Guyana and adjancent Brazil
The Greater Flowerpiercer has mainly bluish-slate plumage; darker upperparts; black mask; whitish malar streak; chestnut rump.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - MARCELO_CAMACHO
Flowerpiercer,_Indigo Diglossa indigotica Found: lower west Andean slopes in Ecuador and Colombia
The Indigo Flowerpiercer has mainly indigo plumage; black lores, flight feathers, tail.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Ecuador 2) Francesco_Veronesi - Columbia
Flowerpiercer,_Masked Diglossa cyanea Found: South America
The Masked Flowerpiercer is found in humid high altitutde forest and scrub in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. It has mainly blue plumage; large black mask, red eyes.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - Guango Lodge, Ecuador 2, 3) Dick - Peguche Waterfall 4) Andy_Morffew - Ecuador
Flowerpiercer,_Merida Diglossa gloriosa Found: Venezuela
The Merida Flowerpiercer has black upperparts, breast; blue-gray shoulder patch; chestnut belly.
Similar to: Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer. The range of Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer and range of Merida Flowerpiercer do not overlap.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Jay_McGowanSimilar to: Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer. The range of Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer and range of Merida Flowerpiercer do not overlap.
Flowerpiercer,_Moustached Diglossa mystacalis Found: Bolivia, Peru
The Moustached Flowerpiercer has black upperparts; black head with white or rufous moustache; mainly black underparts with varying amount of white on breast.
Image by: 1) David_Cook - Peru 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Yamil_Saenz in Ecuador
Flowerpiercer,_Rusty Diglossa sittoides Found: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
The male Rusty Flowerpiercer has varying shades of blue-gray upperparts; rusty underparts. Female has olive upperparts; tawny underparts with darker streaks.
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi 2, 3) Nick Athanas - Columbia, Argentina 4) Alejandro_Tamayo.jpg){kind=link}
Flowerpiercer,_Scaled Diglossa duidae Found: southwest Venezuela and adjacent Brazil
The Scaled Flowerpiercer has bluish-slate plumage; darker head; whitish center to some breast feathers gives scaled appearance.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Robson_Czaban in Brazil
Flowerpiercer,_Slaty Diglossa plumbea Found: Costa Rica, Panama
The Slaty Flowerpiercer has a hooked, upturned bill. Male has mainly blue-gray plumage; blackish wings, tail. Female has olive-brown upperparts; paler throat, breast.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Dick Daniels - Boquette, Panama 4, 5) Nick Athanas - Costa Rica 6) Jerry Oldenettel - Costa Rica
Flowerpiercer,_Venezuelan Diglossa venezuelensis Found: Venezuela
The male Venezuelan Flowerpiercer has black plumage with white tuft on flanks. Female has olive-brown upperparts; yellowish-olive head; buffy-brown underparts.
Image by: 1) hbw.com 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Jay_McGowan, Mikko_Pyhala1) Female 2) Male
Flowerpiercer,_White-sided Diglossa albilatera Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
The male White-sided Flowerpiecer has mainly slaty-gray plumage. Female has olive-brown uppperparts; browner underparts. Both have white tufts on sides.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Columbia 2) Alejandro_Tamayo 3) Francesco_Veronesi - Ecuador.jpg){kind=link}
1, 2) Female 3) Male
1) Shows the flowerpiecer cutting the base of the flower with its bill.
