Bird Guide

Flame-colored Tanager vs Red-headed Tanager

Flame-colored Tanager (Piranga bidentata)

Flame-colored Tanager

Piranga bidentata

Small36 gForest

The flame-colored tanager is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long. The nominate weighs 33.3 to 39.4 g (1.17 to 1.39 oz) and P. b. flammea 32 to 48.4 g (1.13 to 1.71 oz). The nominate male's head and underparts are red-orange becoming yellower towards the vent area. It has a brown patch below the eye from the bill to behind the eye. The mantle and back are dusky orange with an olive tint; the rump is paler with little or no streaking. The female has a similar pattern but its head and underparts are yellow and the back is olive with black streaks. The male P. b. Voice: The flame-colored tanager's song is similar to a vireo's, a "rich, musical ... 'chewee-very-vire, chewee-very-vire-very, cheery-cheweea ...'". Its call is "per-dick" or "chi-dick".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Greg Gilbert · CC BY 2.0
Red-headed Tanager (Piranga erythrocephala)

Red-headed Tanager

Piranga erythrocephala

Small22 gForest

The red-headed tanager is approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs 19.9 to 24.5 g (0.70 to 0.86 oz). The nominate male's forecrown, face, throat and upper chest are red and the rest of the upperparts bright yellow-olive. The rest of the underparts are olive-yellow. It has a narrow black mask. The female's forecrown is yellow and the rest of her upperparts yellow-olive. The throat and chest are yellow that fades to buffy white toward the vent area. The juvenile male looks like a bright female. P. e. candida is similar to the nominate but duller and darker. Voice: The red-headed tanager's song is "a long, slow ...'chur chew che-wier chéé-chur wee chur cheer chéé-chur ...'" or "tsi-tsi tsee-tsee". It has several calls.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Nigel Voaden, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Flame-colored Tanager and Red-headed Tanager.