The Masked Crimson Tanager (Ramphocelus nigrogularis) is a species of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the family Thraupidae.
It is found in Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, and Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

.
Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are subtropical or tropical swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

s and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland

Shrubland

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...

.

The Masked Crimson Tanager was first described by German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix

Johann Baptist von Spix

Dr. Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix was a German naturalist.Spix was born in Höchstadt, Middle Franconia, as the seventh of eleven children. His boyhood home is the site of the Spix Museum , opened to the public in 2004...

 in 1825. Its species name is derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 words niger "black", and gularis "throated". It is one of nine species of brightly coloured tanagers of the genus Ramphocelus

Ramphocelus

Ramphocelus is a Neotropical genus of birds of the tanager family. They have enlarged shiny whitish or bluish-grey lower mandibles, which are pointed upwards in display. However, this is greatly reduced in the females of most species...

. Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates its closest relative is the Crimson-backed Tanager

Crimson-backed Tanager

The Crimson-backed Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Colombia, French Guyana, Panama, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest...

 (R. dimidiatus), and the two split around 800,000 years ago.

Measuring 18 to 19 cm (7-7.5 in) in length, the adult male has a black face, wings, mantle, belly and tail, and is a bright red elsewhere in its plumage. The bill has a silver sheen. The female resembles the male but has a brownish belly and duller plumage overall, while the juvenile is duller still. It resembles the Vermilion Tanager

Vermilion Tanager

The Vermilion Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is the only member of its genus Calochaetes.It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru....

 (Calochaetes coccineus) but the latter lives at higher altitudes.

The Masked Crimson Tanager makes a high-pitched single note variously transcribed as tchlink or "tink", and a simple melody often sung at dawn.

The Masked Crimson Tanager is found across Amazonia and is abundant. It prefers to dwell near bodies of water such as lakes, swamps or rivers, generally at altitudes below 600 m (2000 ft). Masked Crimson Tanagers move about in troops of 10 to 12 birds. The species can form mixed species flocks with the Silver-beaked Tanager

Silver-beaked Tanager

The Silver-beaked Tanager, Ramphocelus carbo, is a medium-sized passerine bird. This tanager is a resident breeder in South America from eastern Colombia and Venezuela south to Paraguay and central Brazil, and on Trinidad. It is common and conspicuous in some areas—it may be the bird most...

(Ramphocelus carbo). It is frugivorous (fruit-eating).