Taxonomy/Origins: These birds are common and have an exstensive range throughout Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Trinidad, Bolivia, and Northern Brazil.
Subspecies: There are nine sub-species and all differ in their colourations from the beautifully coloured bangsi which has vivid blue Chest and belly with a yellow collar to viridissima whose body is basically green all over.
Plumage Colouration: The Sub species bangsi which I keep has a chestnut head which has a golden yellow collar to the nape area and shoulder, Skyblue, chest and belly. Green Mantle, wings tail, ventral area, with the actual vent feathers and thighs Chestnut. The photo is self explanatory.
Sexing: Sexing is very difficult because there are so many sub-species, Sexes are identical, although I always pick one which has a flat head and one which has a round head, this I believe is the way to sex Tanagers.
Feeding: The main diet for all Tanagers is fruit, livefood, insectivorous mixture and nectar when breeding or first imported.
FRUIT: Pears (Conference pears) and apples (Golden Delicious) cut in half and the cores cut out. Pomegranate cut in half and popped open to expose all the fruit inside. Banana, Seedless Grapes and Papaya.
LIVEFOOD :Buffalo and Mini Mealworms, Small Brown Crickets, Waxworms and Fruit Flies.
INSECTIVOROUS MIXTURE: The best I have found is Haiths Prosecto Insectivorous from Haiths in Cleethorpes and Bogena.
NECTAR: (Only give nectar when first imported or when breeding.) The mix for this is 1 Scoop of Wysoy baby food mixed with 2 Scoops of Glucose. Mix together with a little boiling water and then make up to 500mls with cold water..
Housing: Once acclimatised Azure Tanagers will settle well into an aviary or a double breeder. The individuals i keep seem to be quite friendly to other species of birds and are quite tolerant of other Tanagers. But others i have kept in the past have been quite spitefull to all other birds. So a careful watch should be made. They must be kept at a minimum temperature of 60ºF and kept in a frost free shelter in the winter months. They can be let out into an outside aviary when the days are warm. They spend half their time sunbathing and the other half flitting through the undergrowth searching for any insects it may find.
Breeding: The best way to breed any Tanager is to keep one pair per aviary or cage (double breeder) with a range of nest boxes, the best in my opinion being a half open fronted finch nest box to which they will make a deep cup shaped nest made entirely of coconut fibre and will sometimes line this with strips of newspaper. Place cut branches of conifer over the front of these and you will have a better chance of them going to nest. They will often also build a nest in the fork of a branch. They normally lay 2 eggs which are creamy white with brown specks and these are incubated for approximately 14 days and usually fledge between 14-18 days later. Sub-adults are a very dirty version of the adults.
Hints/tips: Always buy your birds from a reputable source and don't worry if they are devoid of feathers because as long as there is no scarring on the skin the feathers should grow back. But if they are devoid of feathers make sure you have your birdroom a little hotter than normal. Always look for the bright-round eyed birds and if at all possible go for juveniles because they settle better in captivity and make much better show birds. When you first obtain these charming little characters they will need to be caged separately in a small cage with the addition of nectar to their normal diet for approximately 2 weeks. After about 4 days if all is going well then the amount of nectar can be reduced to every other day where all of a sudden you will notice that they stop taking nectar and this is when you have weaned them onto your own diet. Nectar is important when you first get them, (especially if you bought them from an importer), because the importer often puts them on nectar to help them survive and that is the only reason. If you are lucky enough to breed them a nectar mix is advisable at all times whilst incubating and fledging is taking place.
Unique Characteristics: This is a beautiful Tanager and they are up there with the best Tanagers I have kept. They make good show birds because they are fairly steady in a show cage and seem to be liked by judges which give them regular Best in Show. I would show these birds in a large show cage with blotting paper in the bottom to soak up their watery droppings and a small bunch of flowers in the corner. The show cage dimensions should be approximately 18" Wide X 30" Long X 20" High.
Feel free to get in touch with any further questions. You can contact me via the FF Forum my username is 'Softbill Man'.
