Tangara velia
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The opal-rumped tanager (Tangara velia) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest of South America. The population of the Atlantic Forest has a far paler chest than the other populations, and has often been considered a separate species as the silvery-breasted tanager (Tangara cyanomelas). Today most authorities treat it as a subspecies of the opal-rumped tanager.
In 1743 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the opal-rumped tanager in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "Red-belly'd Blue-bird". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen owned by the Duke of Richmond that had been collected in Suriname. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the opal-rumped tanager with the wagtails in the genus Motacilla. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Motacilla velia, and cited Edwards' work. Linnaeus provided no explanation for the specific epithet; it is perhaps a misprint for the Ancient Greek elea, a small bird mentioned by Aristotle. The opal... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Brownsberg Nature Park | 🇸🇷 Suriname | |
| 5 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 8 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Houston Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 5 | Rainforest Wild Asia | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 6 | Мадагаскар | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 7 | Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Montreal Biodome | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Opal-rumped Tanager sighting in Manu National Park on a given day, based on 121 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 355th most-seen of the 641 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Opal-rumped Tanager in Manu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and April–December, the lowest months. Those are among Manu National Park's wettest months, with about 240 mm of rain a month against 60 mm in August.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Opal-rumped Tanager sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Opal-rumped Tanager sightings, Manu National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, about 20%) and Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (Ecuador, under 5%).
Same genus: Tangara
The closest relatives of the Opal-rumped Tanager that you can see in Manu National Park (genus Tangara, Tangara Tanagers) are Turquoise Tanager (about 20%), Paradise Tanager (about 20%) and Green-and-gold Tanager (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Opal-rumped Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in Manu National Park (121 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
