The black-winged saltator (Saltator atripennis) is a species of songbird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.
Taxonomy and systematics
The black-winged saltator was formally described in 1857 with its current binomial Saltator atripennis
The species' further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC and AviList treat it as monotypic. However, as of late 2025 the Clements taxonomy and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assigned it two subspecies, the nominate S. a. atripennis (Sclater, PL, 1857) and S. a. caniceps (Chapman, 1914).
This article follows the two-subspecies species model.
Description
The black-winged saltator is about 20.5 cm (8.1 in) long and weighs 44 to 60 g (1.6 to 2.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a mostly black head with a long and wide white supercilium and a small white patch at the rear of the ear coverts. Their upperparts are bright olive-green. Their wings and tail are mostly dull black with faint greenish edges on the tertials and often on the greater coverts. Their chin and throat are white, their breast dove-gray, their belly gray-white with a greenish tinge on the side, and their vent orange-buff. Their lower throat and breast often have a buff wash. Subspecies S. a. caniceps has a mostly gray crown, mostly olive-green tertials, paler undertail coverts, and no buff wash on the throat and breast. Both subspecies have an orange or brown iris, a thick blackish bill, and gray or brown legs and feet.
Distribution and habitat
The black-winged saltator has a disjunct distribution. The nominate subspecies is found in Colombia on both sides of the Western Andes and the western slope of the Central Andes, both from Antioquia Department south to Nariño Department, and into western Esmeraldas Province in far northwestern Ecuador. Subspecies S. a. caniceps is found along the western slope of Colombia's Eastern Andes in Boyacá and Cundinamarca...
