Gold-ringed tanager
The gold-ringed tanager (Bangsia aureocincta) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, endemic to Colombia. It is a plump, relatively short-tailed Tanager with a distinctive gold ring around its face. It inhabits a narrow band of high-altitude cloud forest on the slopes of the western cordillera of the Andes, where it survives on a diet of fruit and insects. The bird is found in small numbers within a limited geographical area, and much of its breeding biology has yet to be described. It is considered a vulnerable species, threatened by habitat loss. Taxonomy and systematics The species was first formally described in 1910 as Buthraupis aureocincta by the Austrian ornithologist Carl Eduard Hellmayr, based on a specimen in the collection of the "Zoological Museum of Munich" (probably the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology). The specimen was collected by M.G. Palmer at the 6700 foot level of the Tatamá mountain (Cerro Tatamá) in the Chocó Department of Colombia. The genus name Bangsia honours the American ornithologist Outram Bangs. The species epithet comes from the Latin aureus - golden, and cinctus - banded. The species is monotypic - no subspecies have been identified. In Spanish the bird is known as