Buff-throated saltator

Buff-throated saltator
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Saltator
Species:
S. maximus
Binomial name
Saltator maximus
(Müller, PLS, 1776)
Audio
Song

The buff-throated saltator (Saltator maximus) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country except El Salvador, and every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Taxonomy and systematics

The buff-throated saltator was formally described in 1776 with the binomial Tanagra maxima. It has these five subspecies:

Description

The buff-throated saltator is about 20 cm (7.9 in) long. Males weigh an average of about 46 g (1.6 oz) and females about 49 g (1.7 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies S. m. maximus have a mostly gray head with a greenish gray crown and a short white supercilium. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are olive-green. Their chin and upper throat are white and their lower throat buffy with a black line on each side of the full length. Their breast, belly, and flanks are gray and their lower belly and undertail coverts buffy.

The other subspecies of the buff-throated saltator differ from the nominate and each other thus:

All subspecies have a brown iris, a thick blackish or black bill, and blackish or grayish brown legs and feet.

Distribution and habitat

The buff-throated saltator has a disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus:

The buff-throated saltator primarily inhabits the edges of lowland and foothill evergreen forest in the tropical and subtropical zones, but does occur in the canopy of the interior. It also commonly is found in secondary forest, shady plantations, and brushy pastures and gardens near forest. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 1,900 m (6,200 ft) in northern Central America, to 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in Costa Rica and Colombia, mostly to 900 m (3,000 ft) in Ecuador, to 1,750 m (5,700 ft) in Peru, and to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Brazil. In Venezuela it is found below 1,650 m (5,400 ft) north of the Orinoco River and below 1,400 m (4,600 ft) south of it.

Behavior

Movement

The buff-throated saltator is a year-round resident.

Feeding

The buff-throated saltator feeds primarily on plant material like fruit, flowers, and nectar, and also includes insects in its diet. In Chiapas, Mexico, it has been observed feeding on the fruits of Cymbopetalum mayanum (Annonaceae), Trophis racemosa (Moraceae), and gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba). It typically forages at the forest edge, moving only a short distance into the forest to feed. It is usually seen in pairs and often in mixed-species feeding flocks.

Breeding

The buff-throated saltator's breeding season has not been fully defined. It spans March to August in Costa Rica, at least April to July in Panama, and February to August in Suriname. Its nest is a bulky cup made from plant material and is usually in a bush or tree between about 0.3 and 2 m (1 and 7 ft) above the ground but sometimes is as high as 9 m (30 ft). In Costa Rica the clutch is two eggs but in the Guianas might be three. The eggs are described as similar to those of the masked saltator (S. coerulescens), which are bluish green with sparse black markings. In Costa Rica the female alone incubates, usually for 13 or 14 days. Fledging occurs 13 to 15 days after hatch and both parents provision nestlings.

Vocalization

One description of the buff-throated saltator's song is a "long series of variations on high tjúrewur witjewúr". Another is "a series of electric chatters, TSEEUT-SEET-TEEU-TU-TU'TU'TU'CH'CH'CH'E'E'E'E'E'E". A third is "a mellow caroling...each song phrase a little different than the previous until ending in a querying phrase, then repeats: will-cheeloo will-cheelo will-cheeloo wee-alee? will-cheeloo". Its calls include "a high squeak followed by a warble: tseet! cheeolee-cheelow...a metallic tick, a high seek, and a mewing CHEEluloo".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the buff-throated saltator as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range; its estimated population of at least five million mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered "frequent to uncommon" overall in Mexico through Central America but common between Mexico and Nicaragua. It is uncommon in Costa Rica's northwest and the western Central Valley and common elsewhere in the country. It is common in Venezuela and Colombia, "generally common" in the Ecuadorean lowlands and less common at higher elevations, "fairly common and widespread" in most of Peru but uncommon in Tumbes, and "common to frequent" in Brazil.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2021). "Buff-throated SaltatorSaltator maximus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021 e.T22723872A137038032. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22723872A137038032.en. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (April 2026). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List. v 15.2. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Check-list of North American Birds (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. pp. 631–632.
  4. ↑ Müller, Philipp Ludwig Statius (1789). Carl von Linné, Vollständigen Natursystems (in German). Vol. 9. Gabriel Nicolas Raspe. p. 159. Retrieved August 26, 2026. Though the book was published in 1789 the species description is credited to 1776.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 378–379. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 McAfee, A. and K. J. Burns (2020). Buff-throated Saltator (Saltator maximus), 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.butsal1.01 retrieved August 26, 2026
  7. 1 2 vanPerlo, Ber (2006). Birds of Mexico and Central America. Princeton Illustrated Checklists. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. Plate and map 90.4. ISBN 0691120706.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Fagan, Jesse; Komar, Oliver (2016). Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America. Peterson Field Guides. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 372–373. ISBN 978-0-544-37326-6.
  9. 1 2 3 Garrigues, Richard; Dean, Robert (2007). The Birds of Costa Rica. Ithaca: Zona Tropical/Comstock/Cornell University Press. pp. 308–309. ISBN 978-0-8014-7373-9.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-9827615-0-2.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela (second ed.). Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 787.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Ridgely, Robert S.; Greenfield, Paul J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide. Vol. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 667. ISBN 978-0-8014-8721-7.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Schulenberg, T.S.; Stotz, D.F.; Lane, D.F.; O'Neill, J.P.; Parker, T.A. III (2010). Birds of Peru. Princeton Field Guides (revised and updated ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 610. ISBN 978-0691130231.
  14. ↑ AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  15. ↑ Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 25 July 2026. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved 25 July 2026
  16. ↑ Foster, Mercedes S. (2007). "The potential of fruiting trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico". Bird Conservation International. 17 (1). BirdLife International: 45–61. Bibcode:2007BirCI..17...45F. doi:10.1017/S0959270906000554.
  17. ↑ Echeverry-Galvis, María Ángela; Córdoba-Córdoba, Sergio (2006). "Descripción del huevo del saltátor collarejo (Saltator cinctus) y comentarios preliminares sobre huevos del género Saltator" [Description of the egg of the Masked Saltator (S. cinctus) and preliminary comments on the eggs of the genus Saltator] (PDF). Boletín de la Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología (in Spanish). 16 (1): 76–84. Retrieved August 26, 2026.

Further reading