Palm Tanager
Thraupis palmarum
Large, plain tanager, gray overall with hints of olive-green in good light; note contrasting black wings with paler patch at base of primaries. A habitat generalist often found around palm trees and in open shrubby areas, gardens, and forest edges. Usually in pairs or small flocks, sometimes with other species. Often quite noisy and conspicuous; gives a series of sputtering squeaks or a single nasal “swee?”
Identification
Adult palm tanagers are 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weigh 36 g (1.3 oz). They are grey to dull olive-green. The flight feathers are blackish, and the long tail is blackish edged with green. A yellow wingbar shows in flight. Sexes are similar, although females may be somewhat paler.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Thraupis palmarum
- Authority
- (Wied-Neuwied, M, 1821)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Thraupis
Range and habitat
It occurs in semi-open areas including cultivation and gardens. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree, usually a palm, or under the eaves of a house, and the female incubates three, sometimes two, brown-blotched cream eggs for 14 days, with another 17 days to fledging.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Palm tanagers are social, restless but unwary birds which eat a wide variety of small fruit. They also regularly take some nectar, flower petals and insects, including caterpillars. The song is fast and squeaky.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Blue Bird-of-Paradise
Paradisornis rudolphi
A large bird of mid-montane forests in eastern New Guinea. Black head and back, bright blue wings and tail, white bill and split eye-ring. Male also has reddish and blue plumes and 2 long, black tail streamers. Male has a remarkable display, hanging upside down from a low perch. Female, brownish below, with slight barring. Both sexes are unmistakable. Male gives a far carrying, upslurred “where?!” repeated at intervals from a high perch.
Somali Fiscal
Lanius somalicus
A small black, white, and gray shrike. The sexes look similar. Note the white patches at the bottom middle and near the end of the wing. Along with the white outer tail, these can be conspicuous in flight. Found in dry savanna and grassland. Perches up conspicuously, often in pairs. Very similar to Taita Fiscal, but has multiple white patches on each wing instead of just one. The repetitive vocalizations include scratchy notes, usually higher and rougher than those of Taita Fiscal, often delivered in a rising pattern.
Masked Flowerpiercer
Diglossa cyanea
Fairly large flowerpiercer, almost all blue with black mask and red eye. Bill is upturned with a hook at the tip, typical of a flowerpiercer. Sexes alike. Fairly active like a warbler or small tanager, often following a mixed-species flock but sometimes foraging separately. Could be confused with Blue-and-black Tanager but note bill shape and blue (not black) wings. Separated from other flowerpiercers by bright blue color combined with black mask. Quite common and widespread in the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia, usually above 2,000 m. Feeds on fruit, nectar, and insects.
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