{"id":234436,"date":"2026-02-06T07:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T12:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/?post_type=fauna&#038;p=234436"},"modified":"2026-05-09T17:45:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:45:59","slug":"swallow-tanager","status":"publish","type":"fauna","link":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/fauna\/swallow-tanager\/","title":{"rendered":"Swallow Tanager"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tersina viridis<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":258233,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":""},"collection":[],"country":[11],"fauna-group":[27487],"fauna-type":[27217],"star-rating":[],"class_list":["post-234436","fauna","type-fauna","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","country-colombia","fauna-group-tanagers","fauna-type-birds"],"acf":{"scientific_name":"Tersina viridis","animal_description":"The Swallow Tanager (*Tersina viridis*) is a striking Neotropical bird renowned for its vivid sexual dimorphism and specialized anatomy that sets it apart from other tanagers. Males are draped in a brilliant, shimmering turquoise-blue plumage accented by a velvet-black face mask and throat, while females sport a bright grass-green coat with yellow-barred flanks. True to its name, this species possesses an unusually broad, flat bill and long wings, enabling it to perform graceful, swallow-like aerial maneuvers to snap up insects mid-flight, though it primarily feeds on fruit. Beyond its dazzling colors, the Swallow Tanager is unique for its nesting behavior; unlike its tree-dwelling relatives, it is a cavity nester that often excavates burrows in earthen banks or utilizes holes in stone walls, making it one of the most ecologically distinct members of its family.","animal_habitat":"This species occupies a vast geographical range across South America, extending from eastern Panama and Trinidad southward to northeastern Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It is widely distributed throughout the Amazon Basin, the Guianas, and the Atlantic Forest regions. While primarily a resident in many areas, some populations are known to undergo seasonal migrations, moving between breeding and non-breeding grounds within the continent.\n\nIts preferred habitats include the edges of humid forests, open woodlands, and clearings, often in close proximity to rivers or streams. It is highly adaptable and frequently occurs in disturbed environments such as plantations, orchards, and suburban parks. A key requirement for its habitat is the presence of vertical surfaces\u2014such as earthen banks, cliffs, or even stone walls\u2014which it utilizes for nesting. It is typically found at elevations ranging from sea level up to 1,600 meters.","animal_behavior_and_reproduction":"These birds are highly social outside of the breeding season, often gathering in large, conspicuous flocks to forage for fruit and insects. They are known for their active nature, frequently perching on high, exposed branches and performing swallow-like aerial maneuvers to catch prey. During the breeding season, they form monogamous pairs and defend specific territories, though they may still congregate in communal feeding areas.\n\nTheir reproductive strategy is unique among tanagers as they are specialized cavity nesters. The female constructs a cup-shaped nest at the end of a long tunnel, which she typically excavates in an earthen bank, cliffside, or even a hole in a building. She is solely responsible for incubating the two to three eggs, but once they hatch, both parents cooperate to feed the young a diet of regurgitated fruit and insects. This burrow-nesting habit provides exceptional protection from predators compared to the open-cup nests of most related species.","diet":"The Swallow Tanager maintains a diverse diet primarily composed of various small fruits and berries, supplemented significantly by insects. An interesting aspect of its feeding behavior is its ability to catch flying insects mid-air through a technique known as hawking, a trait that mirrors the behavior of true swallows and contributes to its common name. Anatomically, this bird possesses a remarkably wide gape, which enables it to consume fruits that are quite large relative to its body size by swallowing them whole. After digesting the fleshy pulp, the Swallow Tanager plays a vital role in its ecosystem by regurgitating the seeds, thereby acting as an effective agent for seed dispersal throughout its tropical habitat.","colors":"The male Swallow Tanager features a brilliant turquoise-blue plumage contrasted by a black face mask and throat, with a white lower belly and black-barred flanks. Females exhibit a bright grass-green coloration with yellowish, barred underparts that provide excellent camouflage within forest canopies. Both sexes possess short, broad black bills and dark wings, though the male\u2019s vivid blue appears to shift in hue depending on the light.","fun_facts":"Male Swallow Tanagers are striking for their shimmering turquoise feathers and \"bandit mask\" faces, while females remain camouflaged in bright green. True to their name, they hunt insects mid-air with the agility of a swallow, but they are also specialized fruit-eaters equipped with an exceptionally wide gape for swallowing large berries whole. Perhaps their most unusual quirk is their nesting habit; instead of building typical nests in branches, they are subterranean architects that excavate deep tunnels into earthen banks or occupy narrow crevices in stone walls.","conservation_status_&_efforts":"The Swallow Tanager is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its exceptionally large geographic range and a population that appears to be stable. While a specific global population count has not been quantified, the species remains fairly common across its South American distribution. It demonstrates a degree of resilience to habitat modification, often inhabiting forest edges, clearings, and secondary forests, which helps mitigate the immediate impact of regional deforestation.\n\nPrimary threats are localized and mainly involve habitat loss through large-scale agricultural expansion and potential exposure to pesticides in fruit-growing regions. Because the species is not currently considered at risk, there are no specific, targeted conservation programs dedicated solely to its protection. Instead, its survival is supported by broader initiatives focused on preserving Neotropical biodiversity and the maintenance of existing protected areas within the Amazon basin and Atlantic Forest.","endemic":false,"migratory":true,"nocturnal":false,"conservation_status":"Least Concern","ebird_link":{"url":"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/swatan1","title":"View on Ebird","target":"_blank"},"animal_related_page":{"url":"https:\/\/animalia.bio\/swallow-tanager","title":"View on Animalia","target":"_blank"},"fauna_family":"Thraupidae","fauna_known_nicknames":"Tersina","fauna_average_length":"14\u201315 cm \/ 5.5\u20136 in","fauna_average_weight":"27\u201331 g \/ 0.95\u20131.1 oz","fauna_wingspan":"28\u201330 cm \/ 11\u201312 in","fauna_key_physical_feature":"Vibrant turquoise-blue plumage with a black face mask and throat in males; wide, swallow-like flat bill","fauna_primary_diet":"Primarily Frugivore and Insectivore","fauna_geographical_range":"South America, from Panama and Colombia to Northern Argentina and Southern Brazil","fauna_preferred_habitat":"Tropical and subtropical moist lowland forest edges, clearings, and gallery forests","fauna_social_structure":"Highly Social (gregarious, often seen in small flocks)","fauna_breeding_site":"Burrows in earth banks, road cuts, or occasionally tree cavities","fauna_conservation_status":"Least Concern (LC)","fauna_population_trend":"Stable","fauna_spanish_name":"Tersina","fauna_french_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna\/234436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fauna"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=234436"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=234436"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-group?post=234436"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-type?post=234436"},{"taxonomy":"star-rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/star-rating?post=234436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}