Many birds have a neutral color scheme that allows them to blend in with their surroundings. There are pigeons, blackbirds, robins, and possibly the uncommon red cardinal with brown females. Then there’s the gleaming-green tanager, who throws camouflage to the wind. This bird’s neon feathers are so dazzling that they appear to shine in the dark.
The Bright and Adorable Glistening-Green Tanager
These photographs don’t have any filters applied to them to make the colors pop. The birds have a lot of green in them.
The green tanager can be found in Ecuador’s and Columbia’s moist, mossy woodlands. Tanager males and females are mostly alike in appearance, unlike the previously mentioned brown and red cardinals. Females have a little duller appearance (despite still being very bright green), and they don’t always have the beautiful red and white spot on their heads. Babies also lack facial marks and are less brilliant. Males and females are both around 13 cm long and weigh about 20–24 grams.
Green tanagers feed on insects and fruit, hunting for prey on the outside foliage. While they do occasionally congregate in familial groupings, they mainly live alone or in pairs.
They are members of the 240-species tanager family of birds. The majority of these birds are small to medium in size, fruit eaters, and vividly colored. Tanagers frequently construct globe-shaped nests on twigs with one entrance. The majority of the time, their residences are disguised by foliage.
The green tanager is one of nature’s most beautiful creatures, but it is also one of the most underappreciated. Unfortunately, their bright feathers aren’t enough to protect them from the threats that birds face today.
Bird Populations on the Decline
According to data dating back to the 1970s, North America has lost approximately 3 billion birds spanning over 500 species in the last 50 years.
Ken Rosenberg, a conservation biologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, says, “We noticed this massive net loss throughout the whole avian group.” “According to our estimations, the overall number of breeding birds has decreased by 30%.”
This startling statistic, on the other hand, came as no surprise to them. However, there is some good news to come.
“However, we were also aware that other bird populations were growing,” he adds. “And we didn’t know if there was a net change,” says the author. This rise is thought to be the result of birds learning to live in human-dominated environments.
As a result, the researchers gathered information from a variety of sources, including weather radar sites that have been monitoring migratory bird flocks for the past ten years. They discovered that only a few bird groups, such as finches, sparrows, and blackbirds, account for 90% of the losses. On the plus side, raptor populations, such as bald eagles and waterfowls, have grown.
“The number of ducks and geese is higher than it’s ever been, and that’s not by chance,” Rosenberg adds. “It’s because recreational hunters, who primarily want to see healthy waterfowl numbers, have raised their voices.”
Ted Simons, an applied ecologist at North Carolina State University, demonstrates that there is no reliable method for measuring bird populations.
“People are making a great effort to understand our bird populations,” Simons says, “but the actual processes that we have in place to attempt to answer very complex issues like this fall well short of what we need.” “We’re still a long way from having the skills and resources to have truly high confidence in our population estimations.”
Increasing Bird Awareness
Grassland birds have been particularly harmed, possibly as a result of changes in farming techniques. Pesticides that destroy insects that these birds need to eat have grown ubiquitous. The toxins may also cause the birds’ migratory habits to be disrupted. In addition, converting natural land to a farm eliminates ecosystems.
Shorebirds, meanwhile, rely on breeding in places threatened by climate change and urbanization. Since the 1970s, their numbers have dropped by a third – and they weren’t fantastic either.
Although these birds are not in danger of extinction, they are far from secure. The loss of birds as a whole is a major issue.