Tangara labradorides
The Metallic-green Tanager (*Tangara labradorides*) is a dazzling, medium-sized songbird renowned for its iridescent plumage, a true gem of the Andean cloud forests. Both sexes exhibit a brilliant, metallic emerald green across most of the body, creating a striking contrast with a velvety black throat, face, and upper breast. A distinctive bright yellow patch adorns the shoulder (lesser coverts), while the flight feathers and tail are black, often edged with green. Adults typically measure ar...
This species primarily inhabits humid to wet montane cloud and dwarf forests, forest borders, and clearings with scattered trees. It is typically found at elevations ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 meters (3,300 to 8,200 feet) above sea level.
The diet of the Metallic-green Tanager consists predominantly of small fruits, particularly berries and drupes, and a variety of insects, such as beetles, caterpillars, and ants. They forage actively by gleaning prey from foliage and making short aerial sallies for flying insects.
Metallic-green Tanagers are active, diurnal birds typically observed foraging during daylight hours and roosting in dense foliage at night, either communally or solitarily. They are highly arboreal, spending most of their time in the canopy and subcanopy, where they primarily forage for insects a...
The Metallic-green Tanager is a resident species endemic to the humid montane cloud forests of the northern Andes, extending across a relatively narrow elevational band. Its primary distribution includes the Central and Western Andes of Colombia, particularly from Antioquia southwards, through th...
Least Concern
- The Metallic-green Tanager's dazzling iridescence is a structural color, meaning it's created by the microscopic structure of its feathers refracting light, rather than pigments. - Despite its name, the 'tanager' family (Thraupidae) is one of the most diverse bird families, with over 300 specie...