The Story
I photographed this Golden Tanager (Tangara arthus) along the Trampolín de la Muerte, the mountain road above Mocoa, Putumayo, Colombia. It is widespread and often common in the highland forests of the Andes from Bolivia northward and in Venezuela’s Coastal Range. Within its genus it belongs to a group that includes the Blue-whiskered, Green-and-gold, Emerald and Silver-throated Tanagers. In Colombia several subspecies live on different slopes of the Andes. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/180 sec, f/16, ISO 6400, +0.5 EV. The road averages about 18 curves per kilometer as it drops from the Andes toward the Amazonian foothills around Mocoa.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Golden Tanager (Tangara arthus) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
