- Tangara mexicana
Identification
14 cm (5½ in); Longer tailed tanager with a dark, stout, pointed bill
- Dark blue overall plumage
- Turquoise shoulder patch
- Yellow lower underparts
Distribution
Caribbean and South America:
Caribbean: occurs only on Trinidad
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 4 subspecies[1]:
- T. m. media:
- T. m. vieilloti: darker blue head and breast and more vividly yellow underparts
- T. m. boliviana:
- T. m. mexicana:
- Tropical zone of the Guianas
- T. m. brasiliensis:
- Coastal south-eastern Brazil (southern Bahia to Rio de Janeiro) and northern Brazil (Amazon Basin)
Habitat
Borders of humid forests, disturbed forests and clearings.
Behaviour
Breeding
They construct a bulky cup nest in a tree or shrub. The clutch consists of 3 greyish-green eggs with brown blotches, which is incubated by the female.
Diet
Their diet consists of fruit and insects.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
Subspecies mexicana
Peter R. Bono
from Canopy Tower, Manu Wildlife Center (approx. 320m), Peru, August 2008
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2016)
- guyanawiki
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Turquoise Tanager. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 June 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Turquoise_Tanager


