Palm Tanager

Sightings
Palm Tanager was very common at the Asa Wright Centre and could be seen regularly near the bird feeders and around the residential areas. There were probably 20 or more sightings each day.

Species
Palm Tanager Thraupis palmarum is a social, restless but unwary bird which eats a wide variety of small fruit. They also regularly take some nectar and insects, including caterpillars. The song is fast and squeaky.

Status and distribution
It is a species of least concern with an unknown but stable population in its enormous range of 15 million square kilometres in central and south America. It is a resident breeder from Nicaragua south to Bolivia, Paraguay and southern Brazil. It also breeds on Trinidad and, since 1962, on Tobago. In Trinidad and Tobago, it is known by colloquial names such as the “palmiste” and the “green jean”. An abundant and widespread resident on Trinidad and common on Tobago. The subspecies T. p. melanoptera breeds in Amazonia and on Trinidad and Tobago.

References
Asa Wright Centre; BirdLife; Wikipedia; World Bird Names; Kenefick, M., Restall, R., and Hayes, F. (2015) Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 220

Photograph
1/250th of a second, f5.6 and ISO 1600.