# Piranga

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. The genus name Piranga is from the Tupi Tijepiranga, the name for an unknown small bird.
Genus Piranga – Vieillot, 1808 – eleven species :
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
| Flame-colored tanager Male 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 | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Red-headed tanager Male | Piranga erythrocephala (Swainson, 1827) | Mexico | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Hepatic tanager Male Female | Piranga hepatica (Swainson, 1827) Five subspecies P. h. hepatica Swainson, 1827 P. h. dextra Bangs, 1907 P. h. figlina Salvin & Godman, 1883 P. h. savannarum T.R. Howell, 1965 P. h. albifacies J.T. Zimmer, 1929 | Southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, and locally in southern California and Colorado), Mexico & Central America | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Tooth-billed tanager Male Female | Piranga lutea (Lesson, 1834) Six subspecies P. l. testacea P.L. Sclater & Salvin, 1868 P. l. faceta Bangs, 1898 P. l. haemalea Salvin & Godman, 1883 P. l. toddi Parkes, 1969 P. l. desidiosa Bangs & Noble, 1918 P. l. lutea (Lesson, 1834) | northwestern South America | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Red tanager Male 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 | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| White-winged tanager Male 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 | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Western tanager Male 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 | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Scarlet tanager Male Female | Piranga olivacea (Gmelin, 1789) | Eastern United States. Migrate to Central and northern South America | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Rose-throated tanager Male | Piranga roseogularis (Cabot, 1846) Three subspecies P. r. roseogularis P. r. tincta P. r. cozumelae | Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Summer tanager Male 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 | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Red-hooded tanager | Piranga rubriceps (Gray, 1844) | Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |