Two decades later, the brightly colored Peruvian Songbird finally got a proper name.
Inti Tanager, which was discovered in Manu National Park in southeast Peru by Ornithologists at Louisiana State University in October 2000.
With its bright yellow feathers and distinctive black stripe, the bird’s plumage was reminiscent of Uma Thurman’s iconic track suit in Kill Bill: Volume One, and soon it earned the nickname the ‘Kill Bill Tanager.’
Researchers took over a decade to locate more birds and begin mapping their family trees.
They eventually realized this wasn’t just an entirely new species. It was also a new Genus.
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Inti Tanager first appeared in 2000. The distinctive yellow-and–black plumage of the Inti Tanager is very similar to Uma Thurman’s costume in Kill Bill, a 2003 movie.
Daniel Lane, an ornithologist at LSU’s Museum of Natural Science, heard the little chirper’s song while leading a birdwatching tour on Peru’s Manu-Kosñipata Road, a popular birding location.
Because he was familiar with local birds, he thought it to be one of the most common in the region.
He and Gary Rosenberg, an ornithologist, saw the bird through a telescope and realized that it was a new species: A canary yellow songbird. It had a pink bill and bushy crest, and its head featured a distinct black stripe.
Lane stated that the first thing Lane noticed was its appearance resembled an Old World oriole. It looked more like an Oriole of Asia. “Since it was impossible to believe, I thought that it might be a Tanager.
Daniel Lane, an ornithologist, has sketched the Inti Tanager’s first migration between Bolivia and Peru.
The bird was unable to be seen after a brief glimpse.
Three years later, Lane and Rosenberg led another tour of the area for birders. It was then that the Tanager returned to Lane.
Lane finally collected a specimen in 2004 — but with just one bird, he couldn’t determine its exact taxonomy.
Frank Rheindt (a Harvard University graduate researcher) finally found a healthy breeding population near the Machariapo valley in Bolivia in December 2011. This was 200 miles away than where Lane saw the Tanager in Peru.
According to LSU, other ornithologists have visited the area, which is located east of the Andes. However, they did so only in dry seasons, when the deciduous forests had lost their leaves, and there was less bird activity.
Rheindt visited during rainy season when birds are easy to see.
This watercolor depicts a female Inti Tanager and a male Inti Tanager. Inti, which means “sun”, in Quechua (a Quechua language spoken and written by Incans), is a watercolor painting of a male and female Inti Tanager.
In a paper in Ornithology, the researchers stated that this bright-yellow bird, which was unique in its appearance, could not have been noticed by ornithologists.
Lane and other Bolivian ornithologists visited the Bolivian site again in 2019, to start mapping the tree’s ancestral lineage and to obtain more genetic material.
The largest family of bird species is the Tanagers, which includes more than 390 species.
These birds account for approximately 4 percent of all bird species and over 10 percent in the Neotropical region, which includes Central and South America.
However, Lane’s and Rosenbergs discovery of Heliothraupis is oneilli was notable. According to the release no more than 10 new species have been identified since 1960.
Although male and female Inti Tanagers have similar characteristics, their bill color can vary from bright orange to pink.
Oneilli is the species name for this bird, which honors John O’Neill who served as director of birds at LSU and mentored Lane and Rosenberg.
Heliothraupis its genus is derived form the Greek words helios meaning’sun’ and thraupis meaning small bird’ or ’finch.
This is why Inti Tanager was named Inti Tanager.
Ryan Terrill (Occidental College Ornithologist) said, “This species reminds us of the Sun in multiple ways.”
“It sings throughout the day. It is also out in sunlight. Terill stated that it looks like a tiny sun and is in an open, sunny environment. “So, I thought that a derivative of the sun tanager would be great.
Researchers believe the Inti Tanager is migratory, but only within the tropics—a rarity among songbirds
Terill explained that while they were sitting around a campfire, the team came up naming it “sun tanning” in Bolivia.
Since the Inti Tanager wasn’t spotted during the dry season, the researchers believe it’s migratory, but only within the tropics—a rarity among songbirds.
The theory is that the plant only reproduces in the Bolivian rainy season (November to March).
It travels west from June to November to “winter” in the lower Andes of southeastern Peru. Lane was first to see it.
Terrill stated that the Bolivian population was concentrated because of this. However, Terrill estimated that Peru may have a ten-fold greater non-breeding habitat.