Brazilian Tanager

Fascinating facts about the Brazilian Tanager

• When Carl Linnaeus first penned its name in 1766, he could not have guessed that this 18 cm (7 in) bird would be found in Brazil’s forest edges today.
• Weighing between 27.9 and 35.5 g, this tiny bird can be found from sea-level parks to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) hilltops.
• A study found that almost one-third of its insect prey were beetles.
• Its clutch holds two or three greenish-blue eggs, and in captivity a lone female incubates for about 13 days while both parents provision the nestlings, despite brood parasitism by the shiny cowbird.
• Although it stays in the same area year-round, sightings of flocks in the austral winter suggest that those at the far south of its range may make short, unnoticed journeys, illustrating how even “resident” birds can have hidden seasonal moves.

At a glance

About the Brazilian Tanager

The Brazilian tanager, a vivid flash of glossy scarlet against the Atlantic forest fringe, measures about 18 cm and carries a hefty, wide-based bill that hints at its versatile diet. Males of the nominate subspecies blaze in rich red plumage, their backs darkening slightly with hidden black feather bases, while females wear a more subdued gray-brown mantle that sometimes blushes with a reddish tint on the forecrown and rump. Both sexes share a reddish-brown iris, slate-gray legs, and a contrasting bill, blackish with a striking white basal half on the mandible in males, dusky brown in females. Their song drifts through the understory as a leisurely "jewle-jewle-jewle…" punctuated by staccato "tju" notes, a melodious thread that weaves through the edges of forests, parks, gardens, and even the salty breezes of coastal marshes, from sea level up to 1,000 m. These tanagers are as adaptable as they are striking, foraging in pairs for insects, beetles making up nearly a third of their arthropod intake, and pulpy fruits, especially figs. Their nests are modest cups of grass and plant fibers tucked low in grass clumps or small trees, clutching two to three blue-green eggs speckled with black and gray. While the female alone incubates for about 13 days, both parents feed the hatchlings, though the shiny cowbird often intrudes as a brood parasite. Though largely resident, flocks have been observed moving southward in the austral winter, hinting at subtle seasonal shifts in range.

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