The Story
I photographed this Blue-gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus) at the Parque del Café near Montenegro, Quindío, Colombia on June 14, 2017. It lives mainly on fruit but also takes some nectar and insects. It is a common, restless and noisy bird that does well around people and their gardens, usually seen in pairs. It ranges from Mexico south to northeast Bolivia and northern Brazil. The park opened on February 24, 1995, founded by the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia and the coffee growers of Quindío.
I took this with a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, at 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600. IUCN lists the Blue-gray Tanager as Least Concern with an increasing population, and the park’s museum keeps the history and culture of the region’s coffee growing on view for more than a million visitors a year.
©2017 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Blue-gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus) 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 2021), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List