Quantcast

Flame-colored Tanager

Piranga bidentataOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Tanagers (Thraupidae)

Flame-colored Tanager Breeding Male Portrait
  Copyright 2002-2007 Whatbird.com
Click here for licensing information Splitbar

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

Splitbar
Range Map for Flame-colored Tanager
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
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