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To the Beauty of Birds

The Buff-throated Saltator Saltator maximus, is a seed-eating bird. Traditionally placed in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae), it actually seems to be closer to the tanagers (Thraupidae). It breeds from southeastern Mexico to western Ecuador and northeastern Brazil. This is the type species of Saltator.
The adult has a slate-grey head with a white supercilium and a greenish crown. The upperparts are olive green. A distinctive feature is the yellow-throat broadly edged with black.
This is a species of dense vegetation. The Buff-throated Saltator feeds on fruit buds, nectar and slow-moving insects.

Saltator is Latin for "leaper" or "dancer". Louis Vieillot applied it to this genus because of the heavy way the birds hop on the ground.

This was photographed at the La Paz Peace Lodge and at the Talari Mountain Lodge.

Buff-throated Saltator