Plain-colored Tanager

How to find it

Look in the treetops at forest edges, especially along streams and in partly cleared areas with tall second growth and pasture trees. Listen first for the fast, high calls that give away a group moving through the crowns. Then scan for 3 to 6 birds. Cecropia trees are worth watching, since groups are often seen feeding there. Forest and forest edge in the Caribbean lowlands are the places to concentrate, and the entrance road at La Selva is named as a good spot. A tanager guide for Costa Rica lists it among the birds to watch for at a lodge with forest trails, a lookout tower and fruit feeders.

How to recognise it

This tanager looks dull for its genus. Learn it by a few plain marks:

- Mostly gray, with black wings and a pale belly.

- A small bill.

- A bit of black on the face.

- A buffy wash on the belly in good light.

A careful look may show a flash of bright blue at the bend of the wing, but that patch is usually hidden, so do not count on it. The Costa Rican race, rava, has a pinkish-buff wash on the lower underparts. Adults are about 12 cm long and weigh about 19 g. Juveniles are browner below and lack the blue shoulder.

Behaviour and diet

It usually travels in pairs or small groups, and in Costa Rica often in groups of 3 to 6 through the crowns of trees. It sometimes joins big mixed flocks of other species while foraging. It moves fast, hopping along branches and twisting its body to peer underneath, first one side and then the other, hunting small insects and spiders. It can hang far below its perch to reach food. Its high-pitched calls often reveal it as it moves through the trees.

Where it lives

It forages at the edges of humid forest, in second growth woodland and in adjacent clearings. Across its range it lives mostly below about 1200 m. In Costa Rica it is a bird of the Caribbean slope, from the northeast into Panama, reported as fairly common in the Caribbean lowlands and locally up to 400 m. Its range runs from Panama north to the upper Sarapiqui basin. The Costa Rican race, rava, lives in the southeastern Caribbean lowlands.

Similar birds

Palm Tanager is the common look-alike, with a similar dull gray body and blackish wings. The Palm Tanager is larger and greener, while the Plain-colored has a smaller bill and some black on the face. Sulphur-rumped Tanager is another rare similar bird, found around Cahuita, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and Manzanillo.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Spanish name on the Costa Rican bird list is Tangara Cenicienta, which means roughly 'ashy tanager', after its gray color.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list codes it R-END, and the IUCN rates it Least Concern, though little is known about its population size or trends.

Photography tips

The blue shoulder patch is usually hidden, so do not build your shot around it. The best marks to capture are the small bill, a bit of black on the face, and the buffy belly wash in good light. Treetop groups move fast, so watch cecropia trees where they stop to feed.