BecardsRose-throated BecardPachyramphus aglaiae
- ORDER: Passeriformes
- FAMILY: Tityridae
Basic Description
Rose-throated Becards are small, stocky birds with large heads and strong bills that sit quietly in tropical forest canopies hunting for insects and small fruits. Males are slaty gray, with a dark cap and usually a bright pink throat (some males from wetter regions lack the pink highlight). Females are gray to brown with a prominent black, gray, or rusty crown. Rose-throated Becards have a short, sliding, two-noted song, though they are quiet much of the time. Their nest is a large, disheveled dome that hangs from the end of a small branch.
More ID InfoOther Names
- Anambé Degollado (Spanish)
- Bécarde à gorge rose (French)
- Cool Facts
- Rose-throated Becards are not especially social birds, usually occurring alone or in pairs. But they do sometimes form loose “nest associations” with other species, especially flycatchers and orioles. In Oaxaca, Mexico, a becard nested in the same tree with a Tropical Kingbird, Vermilion Flycatcher, and three other species. The becards sometimes even took nesting material from their neighbors’ nest while they were away.
- What is a becard? This seemingly simple question has puzzled ornithologists for decades. Rose-throated Becard is one of nearly 20 species of becards, all currently in the genus Pachyramphus. Ornithologists have placed this distinctive group in the cotinga (Cotingidae) or tyrant flycatcher (Tyrannidae) families, at one point even leaving them as "incertae sedis," an acknowledgment that they were temporarily stumped. Since 2011, becards have been placed in Tityridae, along with tityras and several other groups that look very different but are closely related genetically.