Cone-billed tanager

Description

The long- tailed tanager ( Conothraupis mesoleuca ) is a species of passerine bird of the family Thraupidae endemic to Brazil.It was described on the basis of a single specimen,a male,captured in Mato Grosso,Brazil,in 1938.No more individuals were observed,so some considered it extinct,while others defended that it was a subspecies of Conothraupis.speculigera.In 2003,it was rediscovered by D.Buzzetti in gallery forest and the Cerrado of Emas National Park,and in 2004 by BA Carlos. The male resembles the male of the albinegra tanager ( Conothraupis speculigera ),but is distinguished by its black flanks and crissum (the latter often with white spots),and its bright whitish gray beak (which has been discolored in the specimen).type,which is preserved in the MNHN,where it has a dark bone tone).The plumage of the female resembles more that of the female of the queen reed ( Cyanocompsa brissonii ) than that of the female of the tanager albinegra,but it is longer.