Rufous-headed Tanager

The rufous-headed tanager is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long and weighs 11 to 13 g (0.39 to 0.46 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a mostly rich reddish chestnut head with a large bright yellow crescent behind the ear coverts. Their nape and back are olive with a yellowish tinge and their rump dark orange-rufous. Their uppertail coverts are mostly yellowish with the longest being yellowish olive. The inner webs of their upperwing coverts are dusky and the outer webs yellowish olive and their flight feathers are dusky with wide olive-yellow edges. Their tail is dusky with wide yellow-olive tips and edges. Their upper breast is orange-rufous, their lower breast and belly pale yellow, their sides and flanks olive-gray, and their undertail coverts a paler yellow than the belly. Adult females have an olive-green head with a faint short yellowish supercilium and a thin yellow eye-ring. Their upperparts are also mostly olive-green with a yellowish rump. Their underparts are mostly yellow with a gray tinge on the flanks. Subspecies H. r. bahiae has longer wings and tail than the nominate. Males have a paler chestnut crown and usually a paler breast than the nominate. Females are like the nominate. …

The rufous-headed tanager is found only in southeastern Brazil. Subspecies H. r. bahiae is the more northerly of the two. It is found in southeastern Bahia. The nominate subspecies is found from southern Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo south to northeastern Rio Grande do Sul. It is a bird of the Atlantic Forest. There it inhabits somewhat open landscapes including light woodlands, the edges of larger forest, secondary forest, plantations, and parks with a good number of trees. Sources differ on its elevational range. One says it is from sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and another says it reaches only 1,100 m (3,600 ft).

The rufous-headed tanager feeds mostly on small arthropods but also includes small amounts of fruit in its diet. It forages in pairs and families, often as members of a mixed-species feeding flock. It is an active, restless forager that usually feeds in the forest's upper levels.