Azure-shouldered Tanager

About the Azure-shouldered Tanager

The azure-shouldered tanager (Thraupis cyanoptera) is a species of bird in the tanager family, Thraupidae. Described by the French zoologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817, it is only found in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, from southeastern Bahia, eastern Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo south to northern Rio Grande do Sul. It inhabits humid montane forests, open woodlands, secondary growth, and forest edges and can be found at elevations of up to 1,600 m (5,200 ft), but usually stays below 1,200 m (3,900 ft).

The species feeds on fruit, flowers, and leaves. Its habit of eating leaves is an unusual aspect of its diet. Foraging takes place in mixed-species or single species flocks of as many as 15–20 birds. Like other tanagers in southeastern Brazil, the azure-shouldered tanager's breeding season begins after the end of the dry season. Nests are generally built deep inside tangles of epiphytic bromeliads in trees. Eggs are laid in clutches of two and may be either pale blue with some very dark purple spots or white with evenly spread-out small brown splotches. As of 2024, it is classified as being least concern on the IUCN Red List, an upgrade from its previous assessment of near threatened. Wikipedia →