red tanager
{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Piranga flava male.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Piranga
| species = flava
| authority = (Vieillot, 1822)
| synonyms =
| range_map = Piranga flava map 2.svg
}}
The red tanager (Piranga flava) is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae.
Taxonomy
There four subspecies of Piranga flava:{{BioRef|IOC|title=Cardinals, grosbeaks and “tanager” allies |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/cardinals/ |access-date=28 April 2024 }}
- Piranga flava macconnelli {{small| C. Chubb, 1921}} (southern Guyana, southern Suriname and northern Brazil)
- Piranga flava rosacea {{small| Todd, 1922}} (eastern Bolivia)
- Piranga flava saira {{small| (von Spix, 1825)}} (eastern and southern Brazil)
- Piranga flava flava {{small| (Vieillot, 1822)}} (southeastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Uruguay)
The red tanager is sometimes treated as part of a more broadly circumscribed hepatic tanager species, where it makes up the flava subspecies group (lowland hepatic tanager).{{BioRef|BOW|title=Cardinalidae Cardinals and Allies |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species?view=text#cardin1 |access-date=28 April 2024 }}{{cite web |title= The Family Cardinalidae |work=Howard & Moore checklist |version=4.1 |publisher=The Trust for Avian Systematics |url=https://www.aviansystematics.org/checklist?viewfamilies=204 |access-date=28 April 2024 }} However, the IOC World Bird List splits these birds into three species, also recognising Piranga hepatica (the hepatic tanager) and Piranga lutea (the tooth-billed tanager).