Paradise Tanager

The Paradise Tanager is among the most spectacularly colored birds of the Amazon basin, seemingly painted with a different color for nearly every part of its small body. The head glows turquoise-green, the back and wings are jet black, the underparts shimmer pale sky-blue to violet, the throat shows a purple-blue patch, and the lower back and rump blaze with a saturated yellow, orange, or red patch depending on the subspecies.

Despite its brilliant palette, this small tanager can be surprisingly easy to overlook high in the forest canopy, where it moves quickly through mixed-species flocks; it is often first detected by its thin, high-pitched calls before being spotted against the leaves.

Key field marks

• Turquoise-green head and nape
• Jet-black back, wings, and tail
• Pale sky-blue to lilac underparts
• Purple-blue throat patch
• Bright yellow, orange, or red lower back/rump patch, varying by subspecies and region

Similar species

• Green-headed Tanager (Atlantic Forest, Brazil) has a similar color scheme but shows more green on the head and an orange throat rather than purple, and the two species do not overlap in range.
• Opal-crowned Tanager and Opal-rumped Tanager share some blue and black patterning but lack the combination of turquoise head and multicolored rump seen in the Paradise Tanager.

Habitat

Inhabits the canopy and edges of humid lowland and foothill forest, including várzea (seasonally flooded) forest and adjacent secondary growth.

Range

Widespread across the western and central Amazon basin, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.

Migration

Resident and non-migratory, though flocks may wander locally in search of fruiting trees.

Behavior

Active and highly social, almost always found in small groups traveling with mixed-species canopy flocks that may include other tanagers, honeycreepers, and dacnis.

Voice

A thin, high, insect-like "tsi" or "tsit" note, often the first clue to its presence high in the canopy.

Feeding

Forages mainly for small fruit and berries in the canopy, gleaning insects from foliage and occasionally taking nectar.

Nesting

Builds a small cup nest in canopy vegetation; nesting biology is not fully documented but is presumed similar to other Tangara tanagers, with a clutch of 2 eggs.