Fun Turquoise Tanager Facts For Kids

We all know that young birds or animals on this earth get care and protection from either their mother or both parents. But, surprisingly, the young birds of turquoise tanager that live in a flock are cared for by parents and flock members. You can explore more about this social bird in our article. A turquoise tanager is a medium-sized and bright-colored bird identified by its metallic turquoise-blue breast and face. It belongs to the Tanager family and genus Tangara. These are non-migratory birds widespread in Colombia, Trinidad, Brazil, and Venezuela south to Bolivia of South America, mainly found in the areas with humid forests. The scientific name of the species is Tangara mexicana, but it is not found in Mexico.

Turquoise tanager bird species was described by Swedish zoologist and naturalist in 1776, in his book Systema Naturae based on Mathurin Jacques Brisson's book, Le Tangara blue de Cayenne wrote in 1760.The subspecies of Tanagra mexicana are Tangara mexicana brasiliensis, Tangara mexicana boliviana, Tangara mexicana vieilloti, and, Tangara mexicana media.

To know more facts about fascinating birds, check our articles on western bluebird facts and hyacinth macaw facts.
 

What type of animal is a turquoise tanager?

A turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana) is a medium-sized bird of South America of the Thraupidae family and genus Tangara.

What class of animal does a turquoise tanager belong to?

A turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana) belongs to the class of Aves and order Passeriformes.

How many turquoise tanagers are there in the world?

The exact population status of these tanagers in the world is unknown. Their number is stable and is a common species in their range. Habitat loss due to deforestation and changing forests to agricultural lands can affect their number in the future.

Where does a turquoise tanager live?

A turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana) is confined to areas with humid forests, with its primary location being the Amazon basin and places like Colombia, Trinidad, Brazil, and Venezuela in South America. Some of the same species, the white-bellied tanager (Tangara brasiliensis), inhabiting the Atlantic forest region of eastern Brazil in South America, is sometimes considered a separate species. Despite its scientific name, Tangara mexicana, they do not live in Mexico or in any part of Central America.

What is a turquoise tanager's habitat?

A turquoise tanager's habitat is regions with humid forests, woodlands, and cultivational lands and is rarely seen in open areas.

Who do turquoise tanagers live with?

These are social birds that live in groups of up to 15 individuals.

How long does a turquoise tanager live?

A turquoise tanager can live nearly 12 years.

How do they reproduce?

Turquoise tanager(Tangara mexicana) species get sexual maturity at one year. It separates from the flock during the breeding season, forms mating pairs, and joins back once the eggs hatch. There are no particular breeding months, and it happens almost throughout out the year. Then adult female Turquoise tanager, with some help from Turquoise tanager male, builds a bulky cup nest in dense shrubs or trees at great heights, using moss and fiber covering outside with leaves.

Female birds lay two to three brown-blotched grey-green eggs, and she alone incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 years. The hatchlings remain their eyes closed for five days and develop the chest, abdomen, and wings. Along with parents, other members in the flock take part in raising the young. Chicks take 14 to 16 days to fledge, and by one month, they become independent. At eight months, the young birds get similar plumage to adults.

What is their conservation status?

As per thwe IUCN Red List, the turquoise tanager's conservation status is of Least Concern and is not endangered.

What do turquoise tanagers look like?

An adult turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana) is primarily black and dark blue with a touch of turquoise to the edges of flight feathers. Their head and breast are turquoise. They have a dark snout, pointed bills, and long tails. Their underparts are pale or cream. Most of the subspecies have underparts in yellow. The Trinidadian subspecies, Tangara mexicana vieiloti of Trinidad, has yellow underparts and is darker blue head than the subspecies, the white-bellied tanager, Tangara brasiliensis, and the Tanagra mexicana.

Chicks are pink with slight gray on the head and back. The fledglings develop shiny blue feathers on the head and rump after 13 days.

How cute are they?

Turquoise tanager is a cute and attractive bird with colorful plumage. They are vibrant in their bright blue plumage and turquoise-colored face.

How do they communicate?

Like any other bird, tanager communicates by making calls that sound like repetitive squeaky twittering tic tic tic tic tic. During the breeding season, the males and females are very vocal and sing-song in a duetted manner, and the song consists of a single repetitive note that sounds like 'tzing'.

How big is a turquoise tanager?

A turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana) is nearly 5.5 in (14 cm) long and is two times smaller than a magpie tanager.

How fast can a turquoise tanager fly?

The speed of the Trinidad tangara mexicana bird is unknown. They fly in flocks from one tree to another tree.

How much does a turquoise tanager weigh?

A turquoise tanager weighs nearly 0.7 oz (20 gm).

What are the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names for the male and female birds of these species.

What would you call a baby turquoise tanager?

A baby turquoise tanager has no specific name but is called chicks in general.

What do they eat?

Turquoise tanager diet consists of a wide variety of fruit and berries and insects like grasshoppers from the tree's bark or twigs. Trinidad turquoise tanager includes 26 species of fruits in their diet, and Miconia berries being the highest eaten among them. Other fruits that they eat are ilex, ficus, and cecropia. Mistletoe is very important in the Tangara mexicana's diet..

Are they dangerous?

They are not dangerous. Moreover, they help in controlling the insect population. However, they sometimes can be aggressive towards other tanager species, particularly during the breeding season.

Would they make a good pet?

They cannot be made pets as they are wild birds and love to be free. Moreover, some studies observed that they could not survive long in captivity. In addition, they are social birds and live in flocks. Even a group of birds kept in captivity cannot go well and may turn aggressive to each other.

Did you know...

The tangara mexicana brasiliensis species, the white-bellied tanager, is often considered a separate species or subspecies due to its geographical distribution.

Turquoise tanagers do not migrate and are residents of the states of South America.

Tanager males are more active and bold than females.

From some captivity observations, it is known that the mated pairs feed each other.

How did the turquoise tanager get its name?

Turquoise tanager got its name from the turquoise color of its face.

What is the difference between a turquoise jay and a turquoise tanager?

These two birds are of the same order, Passeriformes, also known as perching birds or songbirds, which constitute more than half of all species of birds in the world.

The turquoise jay is a bright blue bird with a black face mask and collar, and turquoise tanager has a turquoise face and breast and bright blue and black plumage.

Turquoise jay is 12.5 in (32 cm) and more significant than turquoise tanager, which is 5.5 in (14 cm) long.

The turquoise jay is considered destructive as they spoil crops and rob nests of other bird species and turquoise tanager are not destructive.

A turquoise jay's preferred habitat is dense forests and shrubs, and turquoise tanager's habitat is humid forests, woodlands, and cultivation lands.

The turquoise jay is found in the short elfin forest, and tall, montane evergreen forest and Turquoise tanager are limited to areas with the humid forest of the Amazon basin and Atlantic forests of eastern Brazil.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other mammals from our fruit bat facts and Mexican free-tailed bat facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Turquoise tanager coloring pages.