NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Turquoise Tanager
Tangara mexicana (Linnaeus, 1766)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is a resident bird from Trinidad, much of Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela, and south to Bolivia. Despite its scientific name, it is not found in Mexico. It is restricted to areas with humid forest, with its primary distribution being the Amazon. It was formerly treated as being conspecific with the white-bellied tanager which is found in the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil.
It occurs in forest, woodland, and cultivation. The bulky cup nest is built in a tree or shrub, and the female incubates three brown-blotched grey-green eggs.
These are social birds usually found in groups. They eat a wide variety of fruit and also take insects and other arthropods, often gleaned from twigs.
Wikipedia contributors, Turquoise tanager; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:36:50.403394+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tangara mexicana (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Common name
- Turquoise Tanager
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Tangara
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyThraupidae
- genusTangara Brisson, 1760
- speciesTangara mexicana (Linnaeus, 1766)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Tangara. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Paradise TanagerTangara chilensis (Vigors, 1832) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Golden-eared TanagerTangara chrysotis (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1846) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gilt-edged TanagerTangara cyanoventris (Vieillot, 1819) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brassy-breasted TanagerTangara desmaresti (Vieillot, 1819) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Green-naped TanagerTangara fucosa Nelson, 1912 | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bay-headed TanagerTangara gyrola (Linnaeus, 1758) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Silver-throated TanagerTangara icterocephala (Bonaparte, 1851) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Beryl-spangled TanagerTangara nigroviridis (Lafresnaye, 1843) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Flame-faced TanagerTangara parzudakii (Lafresnaye, 1843) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rufous-cheeked TanagerTangara rufigenis (P. L. Sclater, 1857) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Saffron-crowned TanagerTangara xanthocephala (Tschudi, 1844) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Green-headed TanagerTangara seledon (P. L. S. Müller, 1776) | ThraupidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563305 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:54P5T. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.