Flame-colored Tanager

Piranga bidentata Order: PASSERIFORMES Family: Tanagers (Thraupidae)
Flame-colored Tanager Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Flame-colored Tanager: Tropical tanager with flame red-orange body, black wings with white wing bars and spots, and black-streaked back. Face has pale gray-tinged ear patch bordered with black. Female and juvenile are washed olive-green above and olive-yellow below.

Range and Habitat

Flame-colored Tanager: Resident in Mexico, visits mountains of southwest Texas and nests in southeastern Arizona. Preferred habitats include humid coniferous, oak, and pine-oak forests in mountains.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chick-churee-chuwee", "pr-reck"

Interesting Facts

 Traditionally placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), the Flame–colored Tanager is now thought to be much closer to cardinals (Cardinalidae).

 This bird is also known by the names Striped Tanager and Swainson’s Tanager, after William Swainson, the English ornithologist who first described it.

 A group of tanagers are collectively known as a "season" of tanagers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Flame-colored Tanager

Related Birds

Bullock's Oriole
Western Tanager
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Hepatic Tanager
Yellow Grosbeak
.
Family Tanager (Thraupidae)_blue
Species Piranga bidentata
Length7.25 Inches
Wingspan11.5 Inches

Flame-colored Tanager

Flame-colored Tanager: Tropical tanager, flame red-orange body, black wings with white wing bars and spots, black-streaked back. Face has pale gray-tinged ear patch bordered with black. Bill is gray, legs, feet are black. Swift, direct flight. It is the national bird of Puerto Rico.

● Song: "chick-churee-chuwee", "pr-reck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Flame-colored Tanager: Feeds on insects and fruits. Forages from middle to high levels in trees; gleans insects from branches and foliage.

● Breeding & nesting: Flame-colored Tanager: Two to five green to blue eggs with gray and brown speckles are laid in a cup nest made of sticks, conifer needles, rootlets, and grass, and lined with finer materials. Nest is built on a tree branch 15 to 50 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 13 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Flame-colored Tanager: Western Tanager has yellow body, red head, and pink-yellow bill.

Flight Pattern

Swift flight with rapid wing beats.
Flame-colored Tanager Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Flame-colored Tanager: Resident in Mexico, visits mountains of southwest Texas and nests in southeastern Arizona. Preferred habitats include humid coniferous, oak, and pine-oak forests in mountains.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCasual
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight1.2 Ounces