Sayaca Tanager Gallery

Thraupis sayaca

Birds of the The World website offers these introductory words about the Sayaca Tanager:  The Sayaca Tanager is a resident of forest edge and secondary forest from the Southern Amazon to Northern Argentina.  The Sayaca Tanager is blue gray in color with sky blue wings. The Sayaca Tanager can be distinguished from the similar Azure-shouldered Tanager (Thraupis cyanoptera) by its smaller size and the lack of an azure-blue shoulder patch.  Unlike many other tanager species, the Sayaca Tanager is tolerant of human altered environments and will colonize small isolated woodlots that can no longer support other frugivores.  Sayaca Tanagers forage mainly in the tops of trees in pairs or small groups of 3 or 4 individuals.  Although these tanagers mainly feed on fruit, they also will make aerial sallies for insects.  During the austral winter, the southernmost populations withdraw as far north as Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

I saw and photographed my first Sayaca Tanager on August 19, 2023 in the Amazon Basin Region of Brazil.  Our small group with Jeff Parker Tours was at Southwild’s Fazenda São Nicolau located on the Juruena River west of Alta Floresta.  That morning we were up early for a boat ride  then headed over explore a trail that had an observation tower.  I saw the Sayaca Tanager in the high canopy while on this tower.  For a more detailed description of the trip that included my sighting of this bird look at this blog post.  Here are some of my photos of this little bird.