TANAGERS   -   THRAUPIDAE   -   PART I

Red-cowled Cardinal Paroaria dominicana Barra Grande, Bahia state, Brazil. Recent genetic analysis (see here for reference) has shown that the cardinals in this genus belong with the tanagers.

Red-capped Cardinal Paroaria gularis gularis Amazonia Lodge, Madre de Dios department, Peru.		Yellow-billed Cardinal Paroaria capitata capitata Pousada Piuval, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Very similar to Red-capped, but note the difference in bill color and leg color.

Cinnamon Tanager Schistochlamys ruficapillus ruficapillus Serra da Canastra NP, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. A tanager mainly of drier, scrubby habitats of interior Brazil.		Magpie Tanager Cissopis leverianus major Balbina Forest, Bandeira, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

Magpie Tanager Cissopis leverianus leverianus Pacto Sumaco road, Napo province, Ecuador. A characteristic bird of the Amazon basin, but it also occurs locally in the Atlantic Forest, as in the previous photo. The two races are very similar.

White-banded Tanager Neothraupis fasciata Serra de Cipó, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. A cerrado specialist, occurring in Brazil and adjacent parts of Bolivia and Paraguay.

Scarlet-throated Tanager Compsothraupis loricata Palmeiras, Bahia state, Brazil. Males. A big, aberrant tanager endemic to dry forests of northeastern Brazil. They often move around in large flocks of a dozen birds or more.		Scarlet-throated Tanager Compsothraupis loricata Palmeiras, Bahia state, Brazil. Female.

White-capped Tanager Sericossypha albocristata Above Jardín, Antioquia department, Colombia. A unique Andean tanager that looks and behaves far more like a jay. It occurs in temperate forests from extreme southern Venezuela to northern Peru.

Hooded Tanager Nemosia pileata pileata(?) Careiro da Varzea, Amazonas state, Brazil. Male, with a female peering into the frame on the right. This is a rather widespread and locally common bird in South America. The only other member of its genus, the Cherry-throated Tanager (N. rourei), is one of the rarest and most endangered birds on the continent.

White-rumped Tanager Cypsnagra hirundinacea hirundinacea Serra de Cipó, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. A cerrado specialist like the White-banded Tanager above, often occurring together with it.

Gray-headed Tanager Eucometis penicillata cristata(?) Soberania NP, Panama province, Panama. Presumably a pair. Another rather widespread species, occurring in both wet and dry forest.

Fulvous-crested Tanager Tachyphonus surinamus brevipes Shiripuno Lodge, Pastaza province, Ecuador. Male.

White-lined Tanager Tachyphonus rufus Rancho Grande, Henri Pittier NP, Aragua state, Venezuela. Male.

White-lined Tanager Tachyphonus rufus Rancho Naturalista, Cartago province, Costa Rica. Male. In neither of these two shots can you see the white wing-linings that give the bird its name. It's a feature that under most circumstances is only visible in flight.

Masked Crimson Tanager Ramphocelus nigrogularis Amazonia Lodge, Madre de Dios department, Peru. Unlike the rest of the genus, this one is not sexually dimorphic.

Crimson-collared Tanager Ramphocelus sanguinolentus apricus Rancho Naturalista, Cartago province, Costa Rica. Photographed in the fog. Obviously a close relative of the previous, and likewise not sexually dimorphic.

Crimson-backed Tanager Ramphocelus dimidiatus isthmicus El Valle, Cocle province, Panama. Female.

Brazilian Tanager Ramphocelus bresilius dorsalis Folha Seca, São Paulo state, Brazil. Male. A brilliant bird endemic to lowland areas of eastern Brazil. It does fine in very degraded forest and even coastal scrub, so it has not sufferred from the massive deforestation throughout it's range.

Passerini's Tanager Ramphocelus passerinii La Selva OTS, Heredia province, Costa Rica. Male, with the feathers on his rump all fluffed up. Normally it is not as obvious.

Blue-gray Tanager Thraupis episcopus quaesita Mirador Rio Blanco, Los Bancos, Pichincha province, Ecuador. A common and familiar bird throughout the northern parts of the neotropics. This is an example of one of the races with no white in the wings.

Blue-gray Tanager Thraupis episcopus coelestis Napo Wildlife Center, Orellana province, Ecuador. Several of the races east of the Andes have big white patches in their wings.

Glaucous Tanager Thraupis glaucocolpa 20km south of Calabozo, Guárico state, Venezuela. A bird very similar to the Blue-gray Tanager, but with a very gray face & back and a white belly. It occurs mainly in the Llanos and the arid littoral of Venezuela and Colombia.

Azure-shouldered Tanager Thraupis cyanoptera Folha Seca, São Paulo state, Brazil. Rather similar to the sympatric Sayaca Tanager (T. sayaca), of which I don't have a photo yet. The easiest way to tell them apart is by the dark loral patch of the Azure-shouldered; Sayaca has a very white face that gives it a blank expression. Azure-shouldered also has (on average) a thicker bill and more blue on the wings.

Palm Tanager Thraupis palmarum melanoptera Amazonia Lodge, Madre de Dios department, Peru. With a female Silver-beaked Tanager (Ramphocelus carbo) and a Blue-gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus).

Blue-and-yellow Tanager Thraupis bonariensis shulzei Cuesta del Obispo, Salta province, Argentina. Male. An example of one of the southern races of this species, which are on average brighter and more colorful.

Golden-chested Tanager Bangsia rothschildi Salto del Tigre, Imbabura province, Ecuador. The light was impossible, but there aren't many photos of this bird, an uncommon and local Chocó endemic.

Moss-backed Tanager Bangsia edwardsi Milpe Bird Sanctuary, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Another member of the genus Bangsia, which is mostly endemic to the Chocó region. The only member that isn't is the Blue-and-gold Tanager, B. arcaei, of Costa Rica and Panama.

Orange-throated Tanager Wetmorethraupis sterrhopteron Shaime, Zamora-Chinchipe province, Ecuador. A very localized tanager occuring in southern Ecuador and northern Peru. It was only described in 1964. Interestingly, the areas where it is found tend to be in disturbed forest and forest edge, which leads me to wonder if it might actually start expanding its range as deforestation continues in it's remote and still mostly pristine world range.

Black-chested Mountain-Tanager Buthraupis eximia chloronota Yanacocha reserve, Pichincha province, Ecuador. One of the gaudiest of the mountain-tanagers, and the only one with any green plumage. Yanacocha is the best place in the world that I know of to see it; you can find them virtually every visit.

Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager Anisognathus lacrymosus palpebrosus Guango Lodge, Napo province, Ecuador.

Website design and all photos copyright Nick Athanas
For questions, comments, or photograph licensing info, please email