Green Headed Tanager

In addition to insects, Green-headed Tanagers feed on cultivated fruits such as oranges, bananas, and figs, as well as a variety of wild fruits and berries including those of Allophyllus edulis, Hamelia, Urtica, and bromeliads (Isler and Isler 1987).

The Green-headed Tanager is frequently found in large groups (up to 12 or even 20 individuals), which may be independent or part of mixed-species tanager flocks. Foraging is at all levels, but mostly high (around 9 to 25 meters), with lower foraging in scattered trees and shrubs only at edges and in clearings. The typical groups of 4 to 10 individuals are probably composed of a pair and its last two broods. Green-headed Tanagers are often observed eating fruit, but also spend much of their time hopping along branches, searching for insects under their perches or on nearby substrates. (Isler and Isler 1987; Ridgely and Tudor 1989)

The Green-headed Tanager (Tangara seledon) of east-central South America (southeastern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and eastern Paraguay) is one of several extravagantly multicolored tanagers found in one or another part of eastern Brazil. It is quite similar in plumage pattern to the Paradise Tanager (T. chilensis) and Seven-colored Tanager (T. fastuosa), but these three species occupy non-overlapping geographic distributions east of the Andes (Isler and Isler 1987).

According to Ridgely and Tudor (1989), the Green-headed Tanager is common in intact or recovering habitat, but absent from the large expanses of recently deforested land found across much of its former range. Thus, while still locally numerous, and apparently able to persist in partially deforested areas, its overall numbers have surely declined substantially. Sick (1993) states that this is one of the most abundant Tangara tanagers in southeastern Brazil.

The Green-headed Tanager (Tangara seledon) is found in southeastern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and eastern Paraguay to an elevation of around 1300 meters (Ridgely and Tudor 1989).

The Green-headed Tanager is common in humid forest and forest borders up to around 1300 meters. It can also be found in secondary woodland, shrubby clearings, and gardens, but is absent from the large expanses of recently deforested land found over much of its range. (Ridgely and Tudor 1989).

Isler and Isler (1987) describe the habitat of the Green-headed Tanager as "forest, second growth, forest edge, plantations, parks, and fruit trees in cultivated areas and near village houses" with an elevational range from lowlands to about 900 meters (more abundant at lower elevations). They note that these tanagers may move seasonally between forest and semi-open areas.

The Green-headed Tanager's complex and colorful pattern is distinctive, with no other tanager in its range sharing the blue-green head, black mid-back and throat, and orange rump (Ridgely and Tudor 1989). The adult's yellow-green band behind the nape extends into the black of the throat and upper breast. The rump is orange and the uppertail coverts are yellow-green. Subadult plumage is a dull version of the adult plumage (individuals in subadult plumage are encountered frequently and it is likely that some birds in this plumage are breeding). (Isler and Isler 1987)

The Green-headed Tanager builds a well hidden compact cup nest of grass and leaves lined with soft material such as feathers. Both sexes collect nest material and build the nest. Clutch size is typically 3 eggs. which are white or flesh-colored marked with shades of bown or dark gray, especially at the larger end. Reported incubation period in captivity is 17 days, with young leaving the nest after 30 to 35 days but continuing to be fed by parents for 75 days. (Isler and Isler 1987 and references therein)

The Green-headed Tanager is around 13 cm long and 18 g (range 16 to 20) (Isler and Isler 1987).

A molecular phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of the genus Tangara strongly supported the hypothesis that the Green-headed Tanager (T. seledon) and the Seven-colored Tanager (T. fastuosa) are sister taxa, but contrary to expectations based on plumage similarities, these species apparently do not form a monophyletic group with the Paradise Tanager (T. chilensis), which falls out elsewhere in the tree (Burns and Naoki 2004). These relationships are perhaps unsurprising given the geographic distributions of these tanagers: The Seven-colored Tanager has a limited range in extreme eastern Brazil and the Green-headed Tanager has a more extensive, and roughly adjacent, range in southeastern Brazil; the Paradise Tanager is distributed far to the northwest on the continent (but east of the Andes). (Isler and Isler 1987)

The green-headed tanager (Tangara seledon) is a brightly colored bird found in the Atlantic forest in south-eastern Brazil, far eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina (Misiones only).

As other members of the genus Tangara, it is a small colorful bird, measuring an average of 13.5 centimeters (5.3 in) and a mass of 18g (0.6 oz). The green-headed Tanager has a greenish or bluish head, black on the back, and a contrastingly colored, orange or red rump. Females and juvenile birds have similar, though duller coloration. While essentially a bird of humid forests, it is also common in orchards and parks, where it moves through the canopy, making itself inconspicuous, as its apparently flashy blue-green coloration camouflages it well amongst the foliage.