Summer Tanager
Piranga rubra
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyCardinalidae (Cardinals and Allies)
- GenusPiranga (Piranga Tanagers)
- SpeciesPiranga rubra (Summer Tanager)
About the Summer Tanager
The summer tanager (Piranga rubra) is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.
The summer tanager was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla rubra. Linnaeus based his description on the "summer red-bird" described and illustrated by Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published in 1729–1732. Catesby gave the location as Carolina, Linnaeus specified America; the type location is now South Carolina. The summer tanager is the type species of the genus Piranga that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1808. The genus name Piranga is from Tupi Tijepiranga, the name for an unknown small bird; the specific rubra is from Latin ruber meaning "red".
Two subspecies are recognised: Adults have stout, pointed bills and measure 17 cm (6.7 in) in length... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Summer Tanager in Gros Morne National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Gros Morne National Park
Dickcissel
Spiza americana
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
Black-and-white Warbler
Mniotilta varia
Yellow Warbler
Setophaga petechia
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Regulus calendula
Swainson's Thrush
Catharus ustulatus
American Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
Northern Waterthrush
Parkesia noveboracensis
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.