SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN BIRDS PHOTO GALLERY

Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club         Southeastern Caribbean Bird Alert         Trinidad and Tobago Rare Bird Committee

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

'Mystery Tanager' (Thraupis sp.)

Is this a hybrid Blue-gray × Palm Tanager (Thraupis episcopus × palmarum), or is it merely an aberrant plumaged Palm Tanager? This bird was killed by a cat at Maracas Valley, Trinidad, 1 May 2000, and salvaged as a specimen (prepared by Andrew Kratter; deposited in Florida Museum of Natural History). Compare with specimen photos below of typical Blue-gray Tanagers (upper left), Palm Tanagers (lower left), and possible hybrid Palm × Blue-gray Tanagers (right; found within Palm Tanager specimen trays) in American Museum of Natural History. Photos © by Floyd Hayes. Putative hybrids between these two taxa, including a color photograph, have been reported from Trinidad in the literature. A small proportion of captured Palm Tanagers in Trinidad have a few distinctly blue-tinged feathers. A morphometric and genetic analysis should eventually resolve the question.