Paradise Tanager Tangara chilensis

Paradise Tanager Tangara chilensis

Caxiuanã, Pará, Brazil
November 2005

The Paradise Tanager is distributed in a broad arc round the north and west of the Amazon Basin. It appear to be absent from much of central Amazonia and south of the Amazon. These birds at Caxiuanã (photos 1 to 3) may represent a slight range extension according to the map at Birdlife International.

Intriguingly, the scarlet lower back and rump seen on photo 2 is a characteristic of the nominate sub-species which is not found anywhere near Caxiuanã. The nearest population would appear to be on the north bank of the mouth of the Amazon but this is the sub-species T. c. paradisea which has a scarlet lower back but an orange-yellow rump. So what sub-species is this bird?

It is found in the canopy and edges of humid forest where it is often in mixed canopy flocks although these particular birds were not.

It has bright and unmistakable plumage with an apple-green head and black upperparts. As noted above the lower back is scarlet and the rump is either scarlet or orange-yellow. Underparts are mainly turquoise.

Paradise Tanager, Loreto Road, Ecuador, November 2019 - click for larger image

Photos 4 and 5 were taken on the Loreto Road in Ecuador and are of the nominate sub-species.

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