This is a common treetop bird which favors tall fig (Ficus) trees throughout the tropics from Mexico to Brazil. It prefers open country and has benefited from deforestation as well as slash and burn agriculture. Males and females are similar, but females such as this are usually slightly grayer. This species was introduced to Southern Florida but after many years it ultimately failed to become established and disappeared. Clements recognizes 13 subspecies organized into two groups. In Middle America and South America west of the Andes, the wing coverts are blue. But in South America east of the Andes the wing coverts are whitish forming wing-bars as seen here. This group is sometimes split under the name "White-edged Tanager." Four subspecies occur in Peru, one all blue occurs in the northwest coast, and three with white wing-bars range in the interior. This is presumably T. e. caerulea which occurs in Northern Peru east of the Andes where it t probably intergrades with T. e. coelestis to the East. Both have the lesser and median wing coverts white, but the greater coverts only tipped with white. This species is sometimes placed in the genus Tangara.
