Green-and-Gold Tanager

(Tangara schrankii)

Animal Type

Birds
Exhibits

Upland Tropical Rain Forest
Range

South America

Overview

The green-and-gold tanager's plumage looks like it's been colored in with highlighters, all shades of neon green, yellow and a little blue—fitting for the forested habitat where this neotropical bird lives. Both males and females bear these striking colors.

For as much as these birds stand out, their nests are a different story. When nesting, bonded pairs pick secluded places to hide their eggs from predators. The pairs will build their shallow, cup-like nests out of leaves and moss in small shrubs or tree nooks. Though females handle incubating the eggs, both parents pitch in once the chicks hatch. Leaving and returning to the nest can draw attention, though. Scientists have observed tanager parents in areas with many predators making fewer foraging trips, possibly to lower the chance of being spotted.

Quick Facts

Learn more about the green-and-gold tanager! Did you know layers of white and black plumage hidden beneath their colorful feathers may give their colors a vibrant boost?

The green-and-gold tanager is found in the western Amazon basin, throughout parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Within the forest, these birds mostly keep to the canopy and midstory to forage but venture lower to the understory to nest.

The green-and-gold tanager's diet mostly consists of insects and fruit.

These tanagers are small to medium-sized songbirds with adults reaching 4.5 to 5.5 inches in length.

The green-and-gold tanager has a large, unfragmented range, but ongoing habitat loss poses a threat. Though the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as one of least concern, the overall population has been gradually declining.

Young and adult green-and-gold tanagers likely fall prey to forest raptors; eggs and nestlings are vulnerable to a variety of animals based on the species' low nest survival rate.