Blue-and-black Tanager vs Turquoise Tanager

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

Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call, contact calls · Pichincha: Pasochoa, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Sandino Guerrero · CC BY 4.0

Turquoise Tanager

Tangara mexicana

Small21 gForest

Adult turquoise tanagers are 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weigh 20 g. They are long-tailed and with a dark stout pointed bill. The adult is mainly dark blue and black, with turquoise edging to the primaries. Most races have yellow lower underparts, but this is paler, more cream, in the nominate subspecies found in north-eastern South America. The Trinidadian race, T. m. vieiloti, has a darker blue head and breast and more vividly yellow underparts than the mainland taxa. Their song is a fast squeaky chatter tic-tic-tic-tic-tic.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Bruno Luka de Souza Bambirra Silveira · CC BY 4.0

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