CardinalsFlame-colored TanagerPiranga bidentata
- ORDER: Passeriformes
- FAMILY: Cardinalidae
Basic Description
Flame-colored Tanagers decorate the lush green treetops of mountain forests from Mexico to Panama with their vivid colors—flame orange to radiant red in males, and a rich yellow in females. Both sexes have heavily streaked upperparts and two bold white wingbars on dark wings. Flame-colored Tanagers typically occur alone or in pairs, but occasionally join mixed-species flocks. This bird’s short, raspy song and strong, three-noted call are both reminiscent of the sounds of the closely related Western Tanager.
More ID InfoOther Names
- Piranga Estriada (Spanish)
- Piranga à dos rayé (French)
- Cool Facts
- Flame-colored Tanager is one of a few bird species seen eating army ants. Many tropical birds visit army ant swarms, but nearly all feed on other insects fleeing the marauding ants. Flame-colored Tanager has been seen eating army ant "soldiers" as well as the wasp pupae and larvae they were carrying.
- When is a tanager not a tanager? When it’s a cardinal. In 2009, ornithologists moved Flame-colored, Western, and Scarlet Tanagers, along with the six other species in the genus Piranga from the tanager family (Thraupidae) to the cardinal family (Cardinalidae).