Bird Guide

Blue-and-black Tanager vs Fawn-breasted Tanager

Blue-and-black Tanager (Tangara vassorii)

Blue-and-black Tanager

Tangara vassorii

Small18 gForest

The blue-and-black tanager is an average-sized species for its genus, with a mean length of 13 cm (5.1 in) and mass of 18 g (0.63 oz). It shows slight sexual dimorphism, with females being slightly duller than males. Adult males are mainly cobalt blue with a black mask. The wing and tail feathers are black with blue edges. Subadults are mostly gray, but have black wings, tails, and lores. The bill is very short compared to other species of Tangara. The iris is brown, the bill is black, and the feet are wine gray. Voice: The blue-and-black tanager's calls include a thin, high-pitched tsit, a slightly lower swit, a repeated swit-swit-swit, and a hard SWIT-it. The song is 2–3 second long series of rhythmic, high-pitched notes that begin slow and then speed up into a zieeu-zie-zie-zizizizee trill, given every 15 seconds.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Blue-and-black Tanager
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call, contact calls · Pichincha: Pasochoa, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Sandino Guerrero · CC BY 4.0
Fawn-breasted Tanager (Pipraeidea melanonota)

Fawn-breasted Tanager

Pipraeidea melanonota

Small21 gForest

The fawn-breasted tanager has an average body length of 14 cm (5.5 in) and can weigh 18–25 g (0.63–0.88 oz). This species of tanager has an unusually short, wide beak, similar to the beaks of swallows, as well as short legs and tail, and long wings. The most noticeable coloration of this species is its sky-blue crown and broad black mask that extends over the eyes into ear-coverts. The coloration of the male crown and nape is a medium blue, and the forehead, lores, ocular area, and ear-coverts are deep black.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Fawn-breasted Tanager
Recorded by JUAN ANTONIO ALONSO DE JUAN · Song · Vereda La Máquina, Pacho, Cundinamarca, Colombia · CC BY 4.0
Photo: Joao Quental · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Blue-and-black Tanager and Fawn-breasted Tanager.