Diademed tanager

The diademed tanager was formally described and illustrated in 1823 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck under the binomial name Tanagra diademata.^[2] The type locality is Curitiba in Brazil.^[3] This is now the only species placed in the genus Stephanophorus that was introduced in 1841 by the English naturalist Hugh Edwin Strickland.^[4][5] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek stephanē meaning "diadem" and -phoros meaning "carrying". The specific epithet diadematus is Latin meaning "diademed".^[6] The diademed tanager is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.^[5]

The diademed tanager is, on average, 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weighs 35–41.5 g (1–1 oz). When illuminated well, it is mostly dark glossy bluish-violet in color, although the coloration often seems dull blackish in poor light. The wings and tail have blue-bordered black feathers, while the face from the front of the crown down to the chins is black, giving the appearance of a "mask". The crown is white with a red patch anteriorly.^[7]

The diademed tanager is found from Minas Gerais in Brazil through the southeast of that country, south through eastern Paraguay into all of Uruguay and far northeastern Argentina. It is a denizen of a variety of forested environments, such as riparian forest, Araucaria conifer forests, scrubland adjacent to marshes, and man-made habitats like gardens. It is a lowland species through most of its range, but is limited to highlands in Rio de Janeiro. Argentinian and southern Uruguayan populations of the species may conduct localized migrations.^[7]