Paradise Tanagers for Sale

(Tangara chilensis)

Paradise Tanagers are neotropical birds that are multicolored and a spectacular sight to see. Avid bird watchers throughout the Amazon basin watch this delight forage in the forest canopy. Four recognized subspecies of the Paradise Tanager exist, their only real distinctive characteristic being the color of their rumps. Their diets are made up mostly of fruits and insects of the upper tree canopy, and they build their nests high on the edge of the canopy as well. Something that makes them different than many bird species is the fact that they will be seen traveling in multi-species flocks of up to 20 mature birds! They do not make one place home for too long, and migrate to find new sources of food.

Paradise Tanagers are, on average, 4-8 inches from head to tail. They have short necks and bills that vary in shape. They are toothed and hooked, to provide them the tool for scavenging their main course: fruit, but it also assists in eating bugs. Their plumage is colorful as previously mentioned, including shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and black. The sexes can be very similar, or the female, duller.

Breeding season for the Paradise Tanager begins in June and lasts through August, but can vary based on the region of which it lives. Once the Paradise Tanager has mated, its nesting behaviors vary greatly.

Nests are always placed in a tree's canopy and is predictable, cup-shaped. Nesting materials include dandelion seeds, spider webs, grasses, moss, and even fungus. The male keeps the female company as she builds the nest, sometimes singing nearby. Few couples build the nest together. Even the size of their clutches can vary from 2 to 4 eggs. They've been observed to be greenish-white and spotted. These birds have been studied pretty extensively and these observations show the bird incubating the eggs for sessions between 15 and 55 minutes, for up to 2.5 weeks. Because the two parents look so similarly, it's nearly impossible for a watcher to tell which is incubating them, but researchers guess it is primarily the female like in other species.

Breeding Paradise Tanager

Once hatched, the Paradise Tanagers' young feed on spiders and caterpillars. Detailed research can tell us that the adult parents of these young can bring back food 3 or more times in a 5 hour period. When food is brought back, one parent would supervise the nest for up to an hour, then leave again with the other parent to look for more food.

Young Tanagers look just like that of the adult, but with little variances in colors and patterns. The Paradise Tanager's plumage is one of the most colorful in the world, like the similar Geen-headed Tanager and the Seven-colored Tanager. These other species do not live anywhere geographically close to the Paradise Tanager though, so there is no chance for these species to become confused for long. Their calls are also different.