Turquoise Tanager

The Turquoise Tanager, Tangara mexicana, is a medium-sized passerine bird. This tanager is a resident breeder from Trinidad, Colombia and Venezuela south to Bolivia and much of Brazil.

It occurs in forest, open woodland and cultivation. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree or shrub, and the female incubates three brown-blotched grey-green eggs.

Adult Turquoise Tanagers are 14cm long and weigh 20g. They are long-tailed and with a dark stout pointed bill. The adult is mainly dark blue, with a turquoise shoulder patch and yellow lower underparts.

The Trinidadian race, T. m. vieiloti, has a darker blue head and breas,t and more vividly yellow underparts than the mainland forms.

These are social birds usually found in groups. They eat a wide variety of fruit and also take insects, often gleaned from twigs.

The Turquoise Tanager’s song is a fast squeaky chatter tic-tic-tic-tic-tic.

References

• Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
• Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1