Piranga rubra
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
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 →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 9 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 10 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Alameda Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Dallas World Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Summer Tanager sighting in Houston on a given day, based on 1,445 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 78th most-seen of the 302 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Summer Tanager in Houston on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and October–March, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Summer Tanager sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
23rd of 53
Of the 53 cities where we can rate Summer Tanager sightings, Houston ranks 23rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Bogota (Colombia, about 30%), San José (Costa Rica, about 20%) and San Pedro Sula (Honduras, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Summer Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in Houston (1,445 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
