The colorful lives of tanagers

Bay-headed Tanager (Tangara gyrola) near Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

If you can see them, tanagers will make your eyes pop.

Rufous-winged Tanager (Tangara lavinia) at Rio Silanche Bird
Sanctuary, Ecuador

Some tanagers are easy to see, but many stay in the tree tops and all are fairly small birds (depending on the species, they generally range from about the size of a house sparrow to a common starling). Many tanagers are brightly colored, and since around half of the tanager family does not display sexual dimorphism, the males and females of many species look alike. 

Fawn-breasted Tanager (male) (Pipraeidea melanonota) near
Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

Swallow Tanager (male) (Tersina viridis) near Maquipucuna Reserve,
Ecuador

Tanagers are only found in the Americas, with the vast majority of species in Central and South America. There are around 400 species of tanagers, but the family is a very diverse group. As different as some of these pictured tanagers are, groups like the honeycreepers, conebills, and hemispinguses are not represented here at all. Additionally, the Paroaria “cardinals,” the Plushcap, and a large number of ground- and sierra-“finches” are not pictured either.

Blue-winged Mountain Tanager (Anisognathus somptuosus) at
Refugio Paz de los Aves, Ecuador

Black-chinned Mountain-tanager (Anisognathus notabilis) at Refugio
Paz de los Aves, Ecuador

There is also a lot of ongoing discussion and research as to which birds are actually tanagers; at some point in the future, changes may be necessary to this page to keep it up to date. Classification involves more than just a matter of physical appearances, and the growing research into genetics is providing scientists with new ways of looking at birds. Species that have been previously considered tanagers but are now reclassified include euphonias and a number of familiar “tanagers.” The Habia, Chlorothraupis, and Piranga tanagers, including the migratory Summer Tanager and Scarlet Tanager, have now been reclassified into the Cardinalidae family, as they are more related to birds like the Northern Cardinal, Yellow Grosbeak, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Other birds like saltators (currently in the Cardinalidae family) may actually be tanagers.

Golden Tanager (Tangara arthus) near Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

Silver-throated Tanager (Tangara icterocephala) at Santa Lucia Bosque
Nublado, Ecuador

Tanagers in general eat insects, fruits, and seeds. Some species specialize in types of food; some even specialize in where they feed in a specific habitat. For example, both golden tanagers and beryl-spangled tanagers may be found in the same montane rainforest habitat and often together in mixed species flocks. Both are omnivorous, eating arthropods and small fruits (like berries). Golden Tanagers focus on feeding in mossy limbs and in hanging moss in the canopy; beryl-spangled tanagers focus on feeding on bare branches and among leaves. Again, even though they may be found right next to each other, they specialize in feeding in what’s called a “microhabitat.”

Blue-gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus) near Maquipucuna Reserve,
Ecuador

Palm Tanager (Thraupis palmarum) at Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary,
Ecuador

Tanagers inhabit a wide range of habitats, but most live in or around some type of forest. Of the birds pictured, birds like the blue-winged mountain-tanager, beryl-spangled tanager, and flame-faced tanager are more likely to be found in mid-elevation montane rainforests (roughly 1400-2500 meters above sea level). Birds like the silver-throated tanager and rufous-throated tanager are more likely to be found in lower-level montane rainforests (as low as 500-1400 meters)(and both of these are restricted to forests on the western slope of the Andes). Birds like the Masked Crimson Tanager and the Scarlet-browed Tanager are found in lowland forests (generally below 600 meters), but the former is east of the Andes and the latter is to west. Blue-grey tanagers and a few other species are even common around towns. Of course, not all members of the tanager family live in or around forests. The Plain-colored seedeater, for example, is found in high-elevation grasslands, even higher than where trees can grow (as high as 3800 meters).

Flame-faced Tanager (Tangara parzudakii) at Santa Lucia Bosque
Nublado, Ecuador

Masked Crimson Tanager (Ramphocelus nigrogularis) near Jatun Sacha
Biological Station, Ecuador

As noted, some of these birds only live in certain places. The Scarlet-browed Tanager is what is called an “endemic” species because it is found in a very specific habitat, the Choco lowland rainforests of northwestern Ecuador and southwestern Colombia. Endemic birds are generally confined to an area of less than 50,000 square kilometers, which is about twice the size of Maryland or twice the size of Rwanda or twice the size of Belgium (whichever geographic reference works best for you).

Black-faced Dacnis (male) (Yellow-tufted Dacnis if it is split)
(Dacnis lineata egregia) near Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

Glossy Flowerpiercer (Diglossa lafresnayii) at Yanacocha Reserve,
Ecuador

Masked Flowerpiercer (Diglossa cyanea) at Yanacocha Reserve, Ecuador

If you visit Central America or South America, be sure to look up for these bright little birds. Beware of neck strain and enjoy the show!

Blue-necked Tanager (Tangara cyanicollis) near Maquipucuna Reserve,
Ecuador

Beryl-spangled Tanager (Tangara nigroviridis) at Santa Lucia Bosque
Nublado, Ecuador

Golden-naped Tanager (Tangara ruficervix) at Santa Lucia Bosque Nublado,
Ecuador

Rufous-throated Tanager (Tangara rufigula) at Santa Lucia Bosque
Nublado, Ecuador

Flame-rumped Tanager (male) (Lemon-rumped Tanager if split)
(Ramphocelus flammigerus icteronotus)
near Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

Flame-rumped Tanager (female) (Lemon-rumped Tanager if split)
(Ramphocelus flammigerus icteronotus)
near Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

Scarlet-browed Tanager (male) (Heterospingus xanthopygius) at Rio
Silanche Bird Sanctuary, Ecuador

Silver-beaked Tanager (male) (Ramphocelus carbo) near Jatun Sacha
Biological Station, Ecuador

Silver-beaked Tanager (female) (Ramphocelus carbo) near Jatun Sacha
Biological Reserve, Ecuador

Yellow-faced Grassquit (male) (Tiaris olivaceus) near Maquipucuna
Reserve, Ecuador

Chestnut-bellied Seed-finch (male) (Oryzoborus angolensis) near
Jatun Sacha Biological Station, Ecuador

Plain-colored Seedeater (male) (Catamenia inornata) near Antisana
Ecological Reserve, Ecuador

Yellow-bellied Seedeater (male) (Sporophila nigricollis) near Maquipucuna
Reserve, Ecuador

Guira Tanager (male) (Hemithraupis guira) on Yellow House grounds,
Mindo, Ecuador

Magpie Tanager (Cissopis leverianus) near Jatun Sacha Biological Station,
Ecuador

Paradise Tanager (Tangara chilensis) near Gareno Lodge, Ecuador

Grass-green Tanager (Chlorornis riefferii) at Santa Lucia Bosque Nublado,
Ecuador

Works Consulted

• BirdLife International. 2012. IUCN Red List for birds. Accessed online from http://www.birdlife.org 
• Cameron, Jennifer Lauren, and Kevin J. Burns. 2010. Golden Tanager (Tangara arthus), Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=613356
• InfoNatura: Animals and Ecosystems of Latin America [web application]. 2007. Version 5.0 . Arlington, Virginia (USA): NatureServe. Available: http://www.natureserve.org/
• Ruiz, Dalia, and Kevin J. Burns. 2012. Beryl-spangled Tanager (Tangara nigroviridis), Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=609996
• Ridgely, R. and R. Greenfield. The Birds of Ecuador Volume I. Cornell University Press: New York, 2001.
• Ridgely, R. and R. Greenfield. The Birds of Ecuador Volume II. Cornell University Press: New York, 2001.
• South American Classification Committee (American Ornithologists' Union). 2011. “A classification of the bird species of South America.” Accessed online at http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html