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I always get a bit of a buzz when I go somewhere and photograph something new. In fact, I hate to say it but it sort of dictates how good somewhere was. If I come back from somewhere and I didn’t photograph a new species, I come back disappointed. Fortunately most places I’ve been to here in Brazil, I have photographed new species. Anyway………. the Orange-headed Tanager was a new species that I photographed when I went to visit Celia’s Aunties house in a place called Tabocas near town of Santa Teresa which is about 78 km north west of the state capital Vitoria. We were there for 3 days and a managed to photograph the Orange-headed Tanager a few times around the house. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best. It was overcast and wet. I had to pump up the ISO to 1600 to get reasonably good /sharpish photos. The photos are a bit grainy but not too bad.

* The Orange-headed Tanager is a small bird of around 13 cm in length and weighs around 19 g.

* It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.

* It inhabits subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, scrubland, and heavily degraded former forest areas.

* The Orange-headed Tanager song varies geographically but normally is a high-pitched, jerky sound.

* The Orange-headed Tanager is omnivorous. Its diet includes fruit, seeds and insects.

* The female lays 2 or 3 whitish / blue eggs. They are incubated for up to 14 days. Chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 12 days after hatching.

* Although the global population size has not been quantified, the Orange-headed Tanager is described as fairly common over its extremely large breeding range. The population is suspected to be stable therefore it is classified as a species ”of least concern” on the IUCN red list.