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

This flamboyantly-colored bird is native to the Amazon rainforest. Despite the paradise tanager’s scientific name, Tangara chilensis, it is not found in Chile. Its range is to the north, in French Guinea, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. The paradise tanager spends most of its time in the high upper branches of the rainforest’s fruiting trees, where it feeds on that fruit as well as nectar and myriad insect species. It’s a very social species, and is typically found in groups of 5–10+ birds.

There are four recognized subspecies of paradise tanager, and the one featured in this color column, Tangara chilensis chilensis, is distinguished from the other three by its red, red rump. (UB40’s version of “Red Red Wine” is now stuck in my head.) The other three subspecies show a mix of yellow and red on their rumps, but all of the paradise tanagers are generally described as light green, black, red, and sky blue. That color lineup doesn’t do this firework of a bird justice – call it a snap bang of light cerulean, chartreuse, iris, and chile red (maybe that’s what the scientific name is referring to? 😉).

One curious aspect of this color column: it is, as far as I can tell, the first of the “Field Guide” color columns I’ve created that consistently alternates the bird’s bright, bold colors with bands of darker color. Those darker colors are some of the richest in the mix, too; between the chartreuse and the iris bands is a beautiful layer of lavender slate.

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.