Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

This color column is based on a subspecies of blue-gray tanager (Thraupis episcopus nesophila) that occurs on Trinidad and Tobago. There, it’s known as “blue jean.” 👖 These particular blue jeans may be acid-washed, but I love the name, and it’s an apt one for all 14 subspecies of blue-gray tanager – each is just a slightly different denim treatment. 😉

The bird’s range extends from Mexico and Central America well down into South America’s Amazon Basin. It’s closely associated with human-altered habitat, and is especially active in areas that were slashed and burnt to open up one-time forest for planting or grazing. But blue jeans aren’t just found at the fringes. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the blue-gray tanager is one of the most familiar neotropical birds “to rural and urban [human] inhabitants alike.” Farms, city parks, backyard gardens, forest edges – if humans are around, these tanagers are, too. 🐦🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 And you’ll know it! Not only are they beautiful, they’re noisy and active foragers. They usually associate in pairs or small groups (and mixed-species flocks) as they seek out fruit, nectar, and insects and spiders.

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.