Alternative name: Blue-grey Tanager
- Thraupis episcopus
Identification
Length 16 cm, weight 27-45 g
This tanager is mostly grayish blue, with brightest colors on rump and upperparts. Subspecies seems to vary in how much blue is found in the lighter parts. In at least one subspecies, T. e. coelestis, the shoulder area is white.
Thread discussing Hybrid Blue-gray x Palm Tanager
Distribution
From Eastern Mexico to eastern Peru (and one little area in western Peru), northern Bolivia, to Amazonian and northern Brazil, and from there to Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Guianas.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Thirteen different subspecies share the overall range of this species. Some are quite localized, like the bright T. e. berlepschi from Tobago[1].
- T. e. cana: southeastern Mexico (San Luis Potosí) to northern Venezuela; winters Pearl Islands
- T. e. caesita: Caribbean coast of western Panama (Escudo de Veraguas)
- T. e. cumatilis: Coiba Island (off Pacific coast of Panama)
- T. e. nesophilus: extreme eastern Colombia to eastern Venezuela; winters Trinidad
- T. e. leucoptera: eastern slope of Eastern Andes of central Colombia
- T. e. quaesita: Pacific slope of south-western Colombia, western Ecuador and north-western Peru
- T. e. mediana: southeastern Colombia to extreme northern Bolivia and northern Brazil
- T. e. coelestis: tropical south-eastern Colombia to central Peru and western Amazonian Brazil
- T. e. berlepschi: Tobago
- T.e. episcopus: the Guianas and northern Brazil
- T.e. caerulea: southeastern Ecuador and northern Peru (south to Huánuco)
- T.e. major: central Peru (Chanchamayo Valley of Ica)
- T.e. urubambae: southeastern Peru (Urubamba Valley and Amazonian drainage)
Habitat
Open forest gardens, parks, etc.
Behaviour
Generally seen in couples, eating fruits, bananas, guavas, papayas, etc.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Ridgely and Tudor 2009. Field guide to the songbirds of South America - the passerines. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, USA. ISBN 978-0-292-71979-8
- Ber van Perlo. 2009. A field guide to the Birds of Brazil. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7
- Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Blue-gray Tanager. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue-gray_Tanager
