Brassy-breasted Tanager

Quick Facts

Endemic
  • Scientific Name: Tangara desmaresti
  • Spanish Name: Tangara pechibrasa
  • Family: Thraupidae
  • Known Nicknames: Brassy Tanager, Desmarest's Tanager
  • Average Length: 13–14 cm / 5.1–5.5 in
  • Average Weight: 18–23 g / 0.63–0.81 oz
  • Wingspan: N/A
  • Key Feature: Bright brassy-yellow underparts contrasting with blue-black upperparts and a golden-yellow crown
  • Primary Diet: Primarily Frugivore (fruit), also Insectivore
  • Range: Southeastern Brazil (Espírito Santo to Rio Grande do Sul)
  • Habitat: Montane Atlantic Forest, forest edges, and clearings with scattered trees
  • Social Structure: Often seen in small flocks or mixed-species foraging groups
  • Nesting/Breeding: Open cup-shaped nests built in tree forks or shrubs
  • Conservation Status: Least Concern (LC)
  • Population Trend: Stable

The Brassy-breasted Tanager (*Tangara desmaresti*) is a dazzling jewel of Brazil's Atlantic Forest, instantly recognizable by its vivid, metallic-yellow underparts that gleam like polished brass, contrasting sharply with a deep blue-black hood and wings. Its back is a striking mosaic of emerald and turquoise, while the rump and wing edges shimmer with a bright golden-green iridescence. A unique feature is its pale, almost silvery-blue eye ring, which gives it an alert, inquisitive expression. Highly social and active, these tanagers often travel in mixed-species flocks, flitting through the canopy to feast on fruit and insects, and their melodious, high-pitched trills add a lively soundtrack to their lush, mountainous home.

Fun Facts

Despite its flashy green-and-yellow plumage, the brassy-breasted tanager has a surprisingly subtle superpower: it can rapidly adjust the angle of its feathers to trap heat in cooler high-altitude mornings, then flatten them to release heat as the day warms. This species also engages in a quirky “anting” behavior, where it deliberately rubs ants on its feathers—likely to use the formic acid as a natural insecticide or to soothe skin during molting. In a unique twist, it often forages upside-down like a chickadee, clinging to the undersides of bromeliad leaves to snatch hidden insects, a skill rare among tropical tanagers.

Habitats & Distribution

The Brassy-breasted Tanager is endemic to the Atlantic Forest biome of southeastern Brazil. Its geographical range extends from southern Bahia and Minas Gerais south through Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, and into eastern São Paulo. This species primarily inhabits humid montane forests, including both primary and mature secondary growth, typically at elevations between 600 and 1,800 meters. It is frequently found in the forest canopy and edges, as well as in adjacent clearings with scattered trees, and is especially common in cloud forests and mossy, high-humidity areas where epiphytes are abundant.

Behaviours & Reproduction

The Brassy-breasted Tanager is a highly social bird, typically found in small, stable flocks of 4 to 12 individuals that maintain a loose, cooperative structure. During the breeding season, which peaks from October to February, pairs form within these flocks for monogamous mating, though extra-pair copulations may occasionally occur. The male performs a brief, fluttering courtship display, often offering food to the female as a bonding ritual. Unique among many tanagers, this species often engages in cooperative breeding, where non-breeding flock members—usually previous offspring—assist the dominant pair in feeding the nestlings and defending the nest. The female builds a compact cup-shaped nest from moss and lichen, typically placed in a tree fork, and lays two to three eggs, which she incubates alone for about 14 days. Both parents and helpers feed the chicks, which fledge after 15–18 days, though they remain dependent on the group for several weeks more.

Diet

The Brassy-breasted Tanager is primarily frugivorous, with its diet heavily centered on small, soft fruits and berries, particularly those from plants in the melastome family (Miconia and Leandra) and various mistletoe species. Interestingly, it is a highly active and acrobatic forager, often seen hanging upside down to pluck fruit from the tips of branches, and it supplements its sugary fruit intake with a significant amount of small arthropods, including spiders, beetles, and caterpillars, which provide essential protein, especially during the breeding season. This tanager is also known to frequent bamboo thickets to glean insects from the leaves and stems, and it will occasionally visit banana feeders in its montane Atlantic Forest habitat.

Colors

The Brassy-breasted Tanager has a striking yellow-green head and underparts with a metallic, brassy sheen, while its back and wings are black with vivid blue-green edging on the flight feathers. Its unique feature is a black mask around the eyes and a small black bib on the throat, contrasting with the bright body. This coloration provides camouflage in the dappled light of its rainforest canopy habitat, where the iridescent green blends with sunlit leaves.