Flame-colored Tanager

Flame-colored Tanager

Piranga bidentata

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at San José

In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%

162 Verified sightings at San José
19,805 In all 14 parks From 2019 to 2026
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Flame-colored Tanager

The flame-colored tanager (Piranga bidentata), formerly known as the stripe-backed tanager, is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found from Mexico throughout Central America to northern Panama and occasionally in the United States; four subspecies are recognized. The flame-colored tanager is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long, the male having predominantly red-orange while the female is more yellowish orange.

English naturalist William Swainson described the flame-colored tanager in 1827 from material collected by William Bullock and his son from a specimen from Temascaltepec in Mexico. French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye described Piranga sanguinolenta as a separate species in 1839, though the two were generally regarded as conspecific by the end of the 19th century.

A 2019 genetic study using mitochondrial DNA showed that the flame-colored tanager was the sister taxon of the western tanager (P. ludoviciana). The flame-colored tanager and the other species of genus Piranga were originally placed in the family Thraupidae, the "true" tanagers. Since approximately 2008 they have... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:54

Mexico · 2022

© Manuel Grosselet · XC713014 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:55

Nicaragua · 2018

© Liliana Chavarria-Duriaux · XC644064 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call1:01

Costa Rica · 2020

© Bobby Wilcox · XC610956 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Los Quetzales National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~70%
2 Volcán Barú National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~60%
3 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~40%
4 El Triunfo 🇲🇽 Mexico
~30%
5 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
6 Irazú Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~20%
7 La Tigra National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~20%
8 Cumbres de Monterrey National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
9 Chirripó National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
10 Poás Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
11 Celaque National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
12 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
13 Cusuco National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
14 Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 San Antonio 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
2 Mexico City 🇲🇽 México
<5%
3 San José 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
4 Monterrey 🇲🇽 México
<5%
5 Guatemala City 🇬🇹 Guatemala
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Parc des oiseaux 🇫🇷 France In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Flame-colored Tanager in San José?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Flame-colored Tanager sighting in San José on a given day, based on 162 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 168th most-seen of the 379 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Flame-colored Tanager in San José?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Flame-colored Tanager in San José on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Flame-colored Tanager?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Flame-colored Tanager sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is San José the best place to see a Flame-colored Tanager?

Among the best

Of the 5 cities where we can rate Flame-colored Tanager sightings, San José ranks 3rd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in San Antonio (United States, under 5%) and Mexico City (México, under 5%).

Where does the Flame-colored Tanager sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Flame-colored Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in San José (162 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.

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