Tangara is a large genus of birds of the tanager family. It includes 27 species.[1] All are from the Neotropics, and while most are fairly widespread, some have small distributions and are threatened. They are fairly small, ranging in size from 11.5cm-15cmcm (04.5inches-06inchescm). This genus includes some of the most spectacularly colored birds of the world.
The genus Tangara was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the paradise tanager (Tangara chilensis) as the type species.[2] [3] The name means "dancer" in the extinct Tupi language.[4]
The genus formerly included additional species. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that many of the members of Thraupis was embedded within Tangara.[5] In the reorganization to create monophyletic genera, rather than merging Thraupis into Tangara to create an unusually large genus with around 58 species, taxonomists chose to split off species from Tangara into four other genera. Two of these genera were newly erected (Stilpnia, Poecilostreptus) and two were resurrected: they had been introduced earlier but were not in use (Ixothraupis, Chalcothraupis).[6] [7]
The genus now contains 28 species:[6]
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tangara vassorii | Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela | ||
| Tangara nigroviridis | Colombia through Ecuador and Peru to Bolivia | ||
| Tangara dowii | Costa Rica and western Panama | ||
| Tangara fucosa | Colombia and Panama | ||
| Tangara cyanotis | Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru | ||
| Tangara rufigenis | Venezuela | ||
| Tangara labradorides | Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru | ||
| Tangara gyrola | Ecuador, Bolivia and southern Brazil, and on Trinidad | ||
| Tangara lavinia | Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama | ||
| Tangara chrysotis | eastern Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru | ||
| Tangara xanthocephala | northern Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. | ||
| Tangara parzudakii | eastern Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela | ||
| Tangara johannae | Colombia and Ecuador | ||
| Tangara schrankii | eastern Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, central Bolivia, and northwestern Brazil | ||
| Tangara arthus | Andes (from Bolivia and northwards) and Venezuelan Coastal Range in north-western South America | ||
| Tangara florida | Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama | ||
| Tangara icterocephala | Costa Rica, through Panama and western Colombia, to western Ecuador. | ||
| Tangara fastuosa | north-eastern Brazil | ||
| Tangara seledon | south-eastern Brazil, far eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina | ||
| Tangara cyanocephala | Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay | ||
| Tangara desmaresti | Brazil | ||
| Tangara cyanoventris | Brazil | ||
| Tangara inornata | Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama | ||
| Tangara mexicana | Trinidad, Colombia and Venezuela south to Bolivia and much of Brazil | ||
| Tangara brasiliensis | east Brazil | ||
| Paradise tanager | Tangara chilensis | western and northern Amazon Basin in South America, it occurs in Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and the Guianas | |
| Tangara callophrys | southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru and a region of northwestern Bolivia; for Brazil | ||
| Tangara velia | Amazon and Atlantic Forest of South America | ||
These tanagers are mainly found high in forest canopies, but some occupy more open habitat. They are found at all elevations below tree line but are most diverse in the Andean subtropical and foothill forests of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
The female builds a usually well concealed cup nest and lays two brown- or lilac-speckled white eggs. These hatch in 13–14 days and the chicks fledge in a further 15–16 days. The male and female feed the nestlings on insects and fruit, and may be assisted by helpers.
Tangara tanagers pick insects from leaves, or sometimes in flight, but fruit is a major dietary item, accounting for 53-86% of food items in those species which have been studied.