The Huallaga tanager (Ramphocelus melanogaster) or black-bellied tanagerClements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2025. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2025. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved 3 November 2025 is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is endemic to Peru.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Huallaga tanager was formally described in 1838 with the binomial Rhamphopis melanogaster. By 1929 it had been reassigned to its present genus Ramphocelus.

The Huallaga tanager has two subspecies, the nominate R. m. melanogaster (Swainson, 1838) and R. m. transitus (Zimmer, JT, 1929).

Description

The Huallaga tanager is long; one male weighed . It has a heavy bill with a wide base to the mandible. The species is sexually dimorphic though not dramatically so. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a dark red or reddish brown head, breast, and upper back. The rest of their of their back is black and their rump and undertail coverts bright red. Their wings and tail are black. The center of their belly is black and the rest of their underparts below the breast bright red. Adult females have a similar pattern to males but are usually duller overall and have no black. Their head is reddish brown with often a paler red area around the bill. Their back, throat, upper breast, wings, and tail are reddish brown and their rump and uppertail coverts redder. Their lower breast, belly, and undertail coverts are cinnamon-red with no black center. Subspecies R. m. transitus is similar to the nominate. However, males have a redder center to their back and a paler throat and breast with less contrast with the lower breast. Both sexes of both subspecies have a reddish brown iris, dusky gray legs, and a dusky maxilla. Males have a silvery white mandible with a black tip and females a bluish gray mandible.Wauer, J., E. R. Funk, C. H. Richart, and K. J. Burns (2020). Black-bellied Tanager (Ramphocelus melanogaster), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bkbtan1.01 retrieved September 17, 2026

Distribution and habitat

The Huallaga tanager is restricted to the valleys of the Mayo and Huallaga rivers, mostly in San Martín and Huánuco departments of north-central Peru. In elevation it ranges between . The nominate subspecies is the more northerly; it is found from the Mayo valley south to the central Huallaga valley. Subspecies R. m. transitus is found in the upper Huallaga valley. The species primarily inhabits secondary forest. It occurs in lesser numbers on the edges of lowland evergreen forest, forest along rivers, and in scrublands.

Behavior Movement

The Huallaga tanager is a year-round resident.

Feeding

The Huallaga tanager's diet and foraging behavior have not been studied but they are believed to be similar to those of the silver-beaked tanager (R. carbo), which see here.

Breeding

Nothing is known about the Huallaga tanager's breeding biology but it is believed to be similar to that of the silver-beaked tanager, which see here.

Vocalization

The Huallaga tanager's voice is "[p]robably indistinguishable from Silver-beaked". Its song is described as "a moderately high pitched series of Chew-ee-chew, Chew-ee notes" and it call "a single high pitched chip".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the Huallaga tanager as being of Least Concern. Its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered common in its limited range.

Notes

References