Piranga

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Piranga
Piranga olivacea1.jpg
Scarlet tanager
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cardinalidae
Genus: Piranga
Vieillot, 1808
Type species
Muscicapa rubra [1] = Fringilla rubra
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

See species list

Piranga is a genus of birds long placed in the tanager family, but now considered members of the family Cardinalidae. The genus name Piranga is from Tupi word tijepiranga, the name for an unknown small bird.

Similar in shape and habits to the true tanagers, their coloration betrays their actual relationships. They are essentially red, orange, or yellow all over, except the tail and wings, and in some species also the back. Such extensive lipochrome coloration (except on the belly) is very rare in true tanagers, but is widespread among the Cardinalidae.

These songbirds are found high in tree canopies, and are not very gregarious in their breeding areas. Piranga species pick insects from leaves, or sometimes in flight. They also take some fruit. Several species are migratory, breeding in North America and wintering in the tropics.

Taxonomy and species list

The genus Piranga was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1808 with the summer tanager (Piranga rubra) as the type species. [2] [3] The genus name Piranga is from the Tupi Tijepiranga, the name for an unknown small bird. [4]

Genus Piranga Vieillot, 1808 – eleven species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Flame-colored tanager

Flame-colored Tanager 2.jpg
Male
Flame-colored Tanager. Female. Piranga bidentata - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg
Female

Piranga bidentata
Swainson, 1827

Four subspecies
  • P. b. bidentata
  • P. b. flammea
  • P. b. sanguinolenta
  • P. b. citrea
Mexico, and throughout Central America to northern Panama
Piranga bidentata map.svg
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Red-headed tanager

Red-headed Tanager (Piranga erythrocephala) (8079395236).jpg
Male

Piranga erythrocephala
(Swainson, 1827)
Mexico
Piranga erythrocephala map.svg
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Hepatic tanager

Piranga hepatica.jpg
Male
Hepatic Tanager (Piranga hepatica) female (5572504392).jpg
Female

Piranga hepatica
Swainson, 1827

Five subspecies
  • P. h. hepaticaSwainson, 1827
  • P. h. dextraBangs, 1907
  • P. h. figlinaSalvin & Godman, 1883
  • P. h. savannarumT.R. Howell, 1965
  • P. h. albifaciesJ.T. Zimmer, 1929
Southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, and locally in southern California and Colorado), Mexico & Central America
Piranga hepatica map 2.svg
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Tooth-billed tanager

Piranga lutea, male, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia.jpg
Male
Piranga lutea (female), Colombia (30550958531).jpg
Female

Piranga lutea
(Lesson, 1834)

Six subspecies
  • P. l. testaceaP.L. Sclater & Salvin, 1868
  • P. l. facetaBangs, 1898
  • P. l. haemaleaSalvin & Godman, 1883
  • P. l. toddiParkes, 1969
  • P. l. desidiosaBangs & Noble, 1918
  • P. l. lutea(Lesson, 1834)
northwestern South America
Piranga lutea map.svg
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Red tanager

Piranga flava male.jpg
Male
Piranga flava -Campos do Jordao, Sao Paulo, Brazil-8.jpg
Female

Piranga flava
(Vieillot, 1822)

Four subspecies
  • P. f. macconnelli C. Chubb, 1921
  • P. f. rosacea Todd, 1922
  • P. f. saira (von Spix, 1825)
  • P. f. flava (Vieillot, 1822)
eastern South America
Piranga flava map 2.svg
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White-winged tanager

Piranga leucoptera - Waraira Repano National Park, Venezuela -male-8 (cropped).jpg
Male
Piranga leucoptera (female) -NW Ecuador-6 (cropped).jpg
Female

Piranga leucoptera
Trudeau, 1839

Four subspecies
  • P. l. leucoptera
  • P. l. latifasciata
  • P. l. venezuelae
  • P. l. ardens
Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela
Piranga leucoptera map.svg
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Western tanager

Western Tanager piranga ludoviciana; body visible, male.jpg
Male
Western Tanager (53171713023).jpg
Female

Piranga ludoviciana
(Wilson, 1811)
Southeastern Alaska south to northern Baja California, Mexico. Western tanagers extend east to western Texas and north through central New Mexico, central Colorado, extreme northwest Nebraska, and areas of western South Dakota to southern Northwest Territories, Canada
Piranga ludoviciana map.svg
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Scarlet tanager

Scarlet Tanager (7467759484).jpg
Male
Piranga olivacea Piranga alinegra Scarlet Tanager (15359865237).jpg
Female

Piranga olivacea
(Gmelin, 1789)
Eastern United States. Migrate to Central and northern South America
Piranga olivacea map.svg
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Rose-throated tanager

Piranga roseogularis 64951842.jpg
Male

Piranga roseogularis
Cabot, 1846

Three subspecies
  • P. r. roseogularis
  • P. r. tincta
  • P. r. cozumelae
Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico
Piranga roseogularis map.svg
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Summer tanager

Summer Tanager - Texas - USA H8O9934 (23250423155).jpg
Male
Summer Tanager Female Mexico (cropped).jpg
Female

Piranga rubra
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Two subspecies
  • P. r. cooperi Ridgway, 1869
  • P. r. rubra (Linnaeus, 1758)
Southern United States, extending as far north as Iowa. These birds migrate to Mexico, Central America and northern South America
Piranga rubra map.svg
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Red-hooded tanager

Piranga rubriceps Red-hooded Tanager; Abra Patricia, Peru.jpg

Piranga rubriceps
Gray, 1844
Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
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References

  1. "Cardinalidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1807). Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de l'Amérique Septentrionale : contenant un grand nombre d'espèces décrites ou figurées pour la première fois (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Chez Desray. p. iv. For a discussion of the publication date see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. p. 157. ISBN   978-0-9568611-1-5.
  3. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 301.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 308. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.