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TANAGERS -
THRAUPIDAE - PART II
Thraupis
tanagers to Tangara tanagers
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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. (D3) |
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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. (D1)
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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. (D3) |
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Sayaca
Tanager
Thraupis
sayaca sayaca
São Roque de Minas, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.
The common Thraupis of eastern South America,
replacing Blue-gray Tanager T.
episcopus east and south of the Amazon. (S5) |
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Azure-shouldered
Tanager
Thraupis
cyanoptera
Folha Seca, São Paulo state, Brazil.
Rather similar to the sympatric Sayaca Tanager
(T.
sayaca), above. 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. (D3)
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Golden-chevroned
Tanager
Thraupis
ornata
Intervales State Park, São Paulo state, Brazil.
Male.
This brightly-colored tanager, arguably the prettiest of the genus, is
endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. (S5) |
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Palm
Tanager
Thraupis
palmarum palmarum
Jaguar Ecolodge (pantanal), Mato Grosso state, Brazil.
One
of the most common and widespread of the tropical tanagers.This pair is
devouring a papaya in a tree in the yard of the lodge. (S5) |
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Palm
Tanager
Thraupis
palmarum violilavata
Buenaventura reserve, El Oro province, Ecuador.
(S5) |
 | Blue-and-yellow Tanager Thraupis bonariensis darwinii Road from Quito to Nono, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male. The northernmost race of this species, compare it with the next shot. (S5) |
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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. (D3) |
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Vermilion
Tanager
Calochaetes
coccineus
Old Loja-Zamora highway, Zamora-Chinchipe province, Ecuador.
A
beautiful and infrequently seen tanager of middle elevation
cloud
forest on the east slope of the Andes from southern Colombia to central
Peru. Since it wasn't immediately consuming the fruit, I suspect it was
gathering food for young.
(S5) |
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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. (D1) |
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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. (D1) |
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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. (D3) |
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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. (D3) |
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Masked
Mountain-Tanager
Buthraupis
wetmorei
Cerro Toledo, Loja province, Ecuador.
A
very localized bird found only in the high Andes from southern Colombia
to northern Peru. It is restricted to stunted treeline forest.
(S5) |

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Black-cheeked Mountain-Tanager
Anisognathus
melanogenys
San Lorenzo
ridge, Sierra de Santa Marta, Magdalena department, Colombia.
Endemic to the Santa Marta mountains of
northern Colombia. (S5) |
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Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager
Anisognathus
lacrymosus caerulescens
Tapichalaca reserve, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador.
(S5) |
 | Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager Anisognathus notabilis Refugio Paz de las Aves, Pichincha province, Ecuador. An
uncommon Chocó endemic, restricted to very wet mid-elevation
cloudforest from W Colombia to W Ecuador. Compare it to the much more
common and species in the next photo. (S6) |
 | Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager Anisognathus somptuosus cyanopterus Refugio Paz de las Aves, Pichincha province, Ecuador. A
very widespread and often common tanager in the tropical Andes of South
America, as well as the coastal range of Venezuela. (S6) |
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Diademed
Tanager
Stephanophorus
diadematus
Aparados da Serra National Park, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil.
(D4) |
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Golden-crowned
Tanager
Iridosornis
rufivertex rufivertex
Sangay National Park, Morona-Santiago province, Ecuador.
A
gorgeous bird of high elevation forest in the northern Andes. (S5) |
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Golden-crowned
Tanager
Iridosornis
rufivertex rufivertex
Cerro Toledo, Loja province, Ecuador.
Amazingly, this bird stayed around just long
enough to digiscope it -
it flew about half a second after I took the shot. (D3) |
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