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Guide to North American Birds

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Adult male. Photo: Robert Shea/Flickr Creative Commons

Flame-colored Tanager

Piranga bidentata

Native to mountain forests of Mexico and Central America, this tanager was never found in our area until 1985, when a male spent the breeding season in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains, paired with a female Western Tanager. Since then the species has appeared several more times in Arizona and has nested there more than once.
Family Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
Native to mountain forests of Mexico and Central America, this tanager was never found in our area until 1985, when a male spent the breeding season in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains, paired with a female Western Tanager. Since then the species has appeared several more times in Arizona and has nested there more than once.
Photo Gallery



Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.

Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds

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Songs and Calls
Song similar to Western Tanager but burrier and more hesitant. Common call similar to Western, a low prrrlek.
Audio © Lang Elliott, Bob McGuire, Kevin Colver, Martyn Stewart and others.
Learn more about this sound collection.

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