Piranga rubra
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
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 Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 161st most-seen of the 216 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Summer Tanager in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 150 mm in June.
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.
68th of 81
Of the 81 parks where we can rate Summer Tanager sightings, Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve ranks 68th 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 Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (15 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.
