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

The grass-green tanager was a Christmas week release; I don’t think it particularly cares about the holiday one way or the other, but check out that stunning Yuletide flair – it’s an elf bandit! Because the grass-green tanager hails from northwest South America, let’s call it el duende bandido de Navidad! 

Solstice silliness aside, this beautiful bird is the sole member of its genus, Chlorornis. Appropriately, the genus name translates as “green bird.” Most of the grass-green tanager’s body is awash in a mix of brilliant green – painters might identify it as phthalo yellow green – and forest green, with mint highlights on the wing and coverts. This green on green on green is contrasted by the rich chestnuts, burgundy, and caramel of the face mask and ventral area, as well as by the scarlet, tomato, and chili reds of the bill and feet.

Interesting, although to our (human) eye, the male and female grass-green tanager look the same, researchers have learned that the sexes are dichromatic when perceived by avian vision. Of course, I can only base my color columns on what the human eye detects, so this column represents both sexes. The column also best depicts one of the five grass-green tanager subspecies; Chlorornis riefferii riefferii, which lives in the Andes mountains of Colombia and Ecuador.

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.