Tanager

For the Italian river known in Latin as Tanager, see Tanagro.
For other uses, see Tanager (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Tangier.

Tanagers
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Superfamily: Emberizoidea
Family: Thraupidae
Cabanis, 1847
Type genus
Thraupis
Boie, F., 1826
Genera

Many: see text

The tanagers (singular /ˈtænədʒər/) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropical birds.[1]

Traditionally, the family contained around 240 species of mostly brightly colored fruit-eating birds.[2] As more of these birds were studied using modern molecular techniques, it became apparent that the traditional families were not monophyletic. Euphonia and Chlorophonia, which were once considered part of the tanager family, are now treated as members of the Fringillidae, in their own subfamily (Euphoniinae). Likewise, the genera Piranga (which includes the scarlet tanager, summer tanager, and western tanager), Chlorothraupis, and Habia appear to be members of the family Cardinalidae,[3] and have been reassigned to that family by the American Ornithological Society.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference burns2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Storer, Robert W. (1970). "Subfamily Thraupinae". In Paynter, Raymond A. Jr (ed.). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 246–408.
  3. ^ Yuri, T.; Mindell, D. P. (May 2002). "Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Fringillidae, "New World nine-primaried oscines" (Aves: Passeriformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 23 (2): 229–243. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00012-X. PMID 12069553.
  4. ^ "Family: Cardinalidae". American Ornithological Society. Retrieved Feb 1, 2019.