Paradise Tanager Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Size & shape: A small tanager around 15 cm long, compact and short-tailed like other Tangara tanagers.
• Head: Bright turquoise-green crown and face with a small black mask around the eye and a contrasting sky-blue throat patch.
• Body: Black back, wings, and tail; bright lime-yellow to yellow-green underparts; and a vivid scarlet-red rump that flashes prominently, especially in flight.
• Behavior: Usually found in small groups within mixed-species canopy flocks, gleaning fruit and insects from foliage high in the forest canopy or at forest edge.

Separating It from Similar Species

• Other Tangara tanagers (e.g., Green-and-gold Tanager, Opal-crowned Tanager): No other species combines a turquoise head, black mask, blue throat, red rump, and yellow underparts in the same way — once seen well, Paradise Tanager is essentially unmistakable.
• Confusion is more likely from brief or poor views; look specifically for the scarlet rump patch, which is diagnostic when visible.

Where & When to See It

• Range: Widespread across the Amazon basin, including Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and the Guianas.
• Habitat: Canopy and edge of humid lowland and foothill (terra firme and várzea) tropical forest.
• Season: Resident year-round with no significant migration; best located by joining mixed-species canopy flocks, often first detected by voice.

Voice

High-pitched, thin "seet" or "tsit" calls given frequently as birds move through the canopy in flocks; not known for an elaborate song.