Habitat
Subtropical humid cloud-forest, foraging in secondary and disturbed habitats, forest borders and fragments, and in cultivated land. From 1,000 - 2,285 m, but mainly 1,400 - 1,750 m.
Colombia: north-western end of central Andes in Antioquia, and western slope of western Andes on Cerro Tatamá and Mistrató (including Alto de Pisones), on Chocóâ€"Risaraldaâ€"Valle del Cauca border.
Population
Estimated population is 1,000 - 2,499 (2010) and decreasing.
Status VU
Habitat destruction, degradation and fragmentation through deforestation, cattle ranching, mining, small-scale agriculture and road building, is the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Habits
Singly, in pairs and occasionally in mixed-species flocks.
Food
A variety of fruit, seeds.
Voice
Song consists of 3-5 phrases, 'pit-psEEyee' or 'tst-tzEEee', delivered rapidly and followed by a pause. Usual contact call is sharp, staccato 'tst' or 'pit'. Lone birds occasionally give longer 'pseee' or 'pseeyee'.
Black-and-gold Tanager (Bangsia melanochlamys) [XC286801]
by Frank Lambert from PNN Tatam\u00e1 - Cerro Montezuma, Colombia (song)
Black-and-gold Tanager (Bangsia melanochlamys) [XC108943]
by Oscar Humberto Mar\u00edn G\u00f3mez from Las Tangaras. El Carmen. Choco, Colombia (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
In the past, genus sometimes subsumed in Buthraupis, but this treatment not supported by recent molecular-genetic studies, which place it in a separate clade, with Wetmorethraupis as sister to it. In addition, members of present genus are smaller in size and shorter-tailed than Buthraupis, relatively uniform in plumage, behaviourally less social and occur mostly at lower elevations.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet