The Story
On June 15, 2017, I photographed this Blue-gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus) at PANACA in Quimbaya, Quindío, Colombia. It ranges from Mexico south to northeast Bolivia and northern Brazil. 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. Quimbaya was founded in 1914 and became a municipality in 1922.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Blue-gray Tanager as Least Concern with an increasing population, and every December 7 and 8 since 1982, Quimbaya’s neighborhoods have competed to light the town in the Candles and Lanterns Festival.
©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