| Bird Name: | | | | and legs are black. |
| Opal-rumped Tanager | | | | Diet: |
| Latin Name: | | | | The Opal-rumbed Tanager forages for food in the |
| Tangara velia | | | | upper levels of the forest, mostly crowns of tall trees |
| Status: | | | | but also in the sub canopy. But will occasionally |
| Least Concern | | | | descent to fruiting shrubs. Diet consists of small fruits, |
| Scientific Classification: | | | | berries and insects. Tanagers pick insects from leaves, |
| Kingdom: Animalia | | | | or sometimes in flight, but fruit is a major dietary item. |
| Phylum: Chordata | | | | Habitat: |
| Class: Aves | | | | The Opal-rumped Tanager is found in Bolivia, Brazil, |
| Order: Passeriformes | | | | Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and |
| Family: Thraupidae | | | | Venezuela. It occurs in the northern central region of |
| Genus: Tangara | | | | South America with a small range stretching along the |
| Species: T. velia | | | | southern Brazilian coast. This species inhabits terra |
| General Information: | | | | firma and low-lying forest and the forest edge. They |
| The Opal-rumped Tanager is a South American | | | | will also occur in second growth woodlands, shaded |
| species in the Thraupidae family. There are four | | | | plantations, and clearings with scattered trees. It |
| subspecies. They are generally seen in pairs and small | | | | resides in elevations from lowlands to 500 m in |
| groups and will travel with mixed-species flocks. They | | | | Columbia, 1000 m in Peru, and 1200 m in Venezuela, |
| will emit a high pitched twitter during flight. | | | | elsewhere in its range it is found below 500 m. |
| Physical Description: | | | | Reproduction: |
| The Opal-rumped Tanager has a length of 12 to 14 cm | | | | The female builds a usually well concealed cup nest |
| and weighs about 21 gm. The upperparts are mostly | | | | and lays an average of 2 grayish white eggs dotted |
| black and underparts are mostly a deep violet blue. | | | | with dark gray. Incubation is 13-14 days and the chicks |
| The center of belly and undertail-coverts are chestnut. | | | | fledge after 15-16 days. The male and female feed the |
| The rump is shining straw yellow tinged with green. | | | | nestlings on insects and fruit, and may be assisted by |
| Color variation occurs within regions. The beak, feet, | | | | helpers. |