Paradise Tanager Gallery

Tangara chilensis

The Birds of the World website provides this introductory information about the Paradise Tanager:  The Paradise Tanager is the quintessential multicolored neotropical bird. This spectacular tanager delights visiting birders throughout much of the Amazon basin, where it forages in the canopy of lowland evergreen forests and at forest edge. There are four recognized subspecies of Paradise Tanager, which differ in the color of the rump: the rump is entirely scarlet in one subspecies, and scarlet and yellow in the three other subspecies. Paradise Tanagers glean fruits and insects in the upper canopy of trees, and tend to nest in the outer edge of the tree canopy. Paradise Tanagers often are seen in multi-species flocks of 5 to 20 individuals, and rarely stay in the same spot for an extended period of time when feeding.

I saw and photographed my first Paradise Tanager on the morning of August 18, 2023 in the Amazon Basin Region of Brazil.  Our small group with Jeff Parker Tours was in an observation tower at a private fazenda in the Amazon Basin watching a Harpy Eagle nest when we spotted a Paradise Tanager in the nearby canopy.  For a more detailed description of this day, look here at my blog post on my Brazil trip.  Here are some of my photos of this colorful bird.