Piranga rubra
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Summer Tanager sighting in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 171st most-seen of the 237 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Summer Tanager in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in November to September, 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.
65th of 81
Of the 81 parks where we can rate Summer Tanager sightings, El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve ranks 65th at under 5%. The best odds are in Tikal National Park (Guatemala, about 40%), Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 40%) and Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Summer Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (31 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
