Turquoise Tanager Tangara mexicana

The Turquoise Tanager is a brightly colored bird characterized by its metallic turquoise-blue face and breast. There are five subspecies, which are distributed across northern and central South America from Colombia south of Bolivia and east across Brazil; despite the species name ("mexicana"), it does not occur in Mexico or anywhere at all in Central America. Turquoise Tanagers occur in humid lowland forest, forest edges, and second growth. Eating fruit while perched and gleaning for insects on small, thin twigs are the main foraging techniques. They are highly social and flock in small flocks, and often forage apart from other species of tanagers. Up to four or five adults assist in feeding nestlings and juveniles. Little is known about the territoriality, behavior, parental care, and life history of the Turquoise Tanager, even though the species has a very wide geographic distribution and is relatively common.