Red tanager explained

The red tanager (Piranga flava) is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae.

Taxonomy

There four subspecies of Piranga flava:

• Piranga flava macconnelli (southern Guyana, southern Suriname and northern Brazil)
• Piranga flava rosacea (eastern Bolivia)
• Piranga flava saira (eastern and southern Brazil)
• Piranga flava flava (southeastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Uruguay)

The red tanager is sometimes treated as part of a more broadly circumscribed hepatic tanager species, where it makes up the flava subspecies group (lowland hepatic tanager).^[1] However, the IOC World Bird List splits these birds into three species, also recognising Piranga hepatica (the hepatic tanager) and Piranga lutea (the tooth-billed tanager).

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Family Cardinalidae . Howard & Moore checklist . 4.1 . The Trust for Avian Systematics . 28 April 2024 .