BIRDS of THE WORLD - An Online Bird Book
CARDINALIDAE
Cardinals and Allies
Order Passeriformes Family Cardinalidae
CARDINALIDAE
The Cardinalidae are a family of passerine birds found in North and South America. The family is comprised of buntings, cardinals, and grosbeaks. However, each of these categories
of birds have similary named birds in other families. The birds of this family are robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. The family ranges in size from 12-25 cm. They are typically associated with
open woodland. The sexes are dimorphic - they usuaully have distinctive appearances.
Cardinals and Allies
Order Passeriformes Family Cardinalidae
Other Cardinal-like birds belong to Family Thraupidae.
Genus Cardinalis
Cardinal,_Northern Cardinalis cardinalis Found: North America, Central America
Similar to: Vermilion Cardinal. Their ranges do not overlap.
Similar to: Phainopepla. Phainopepla does not closely resemble Cedar Waxwing except for its general shape.
Similar to: Pyrrhuloxia. Northern Cardinal has a pointed, orange to red bill, Pyrrhuloxia has rounded gray to yellow bill. Male Northern Cardinal has black mask, male Pyrrhuloxia has a red mask.
Image by: 1) Ehpien - Maryland 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) Dick Daniels - North Carolina 10) Dick - Kawaii, Hawaii 11) Gary Mercier - Quebec cit 12) Andy_Morffew - TexasSimilar to: Phainopepla. Phainopepla does not closely resemble Cedar Waxwing except for its general shape.
Similar to: Pyrrhuloxia. Northern Cardinal has a pointed, orange to red bill, Pyrrhuloxia has rounded gray to yellow bill. Male Northern Cardinal has black mask, male Pyrrhuloxia has a red mask.
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1) Juvenile (black bill vs orange of adult) 2 - 6)) Female 6 - 12) Male
Cardinal,_Vermilion Cardinalis phoeniceus Found: Columbia, Venezuela
The Vermilion Cardinal's natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
Similar to: Northern Cardinal. Their ranges do not overlap.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ken_Chamberlain, Eric_VanderWerf 3) Nick Athanas - Columbia 4) Mathdesm - Venezuela Similar to: Northern Cardinal. Their ranges do not overlap.
1) Female 2 - 4) Male
Pyrrhuloxia Cardinalis sinuatus Found: soutwest USA, Mexico
The Pyrrhuloxia habitat is desert scrub, mesquite thickets, woodland edges.
Similar to: Northern Cardinal. Northern Cardinal has a pointed, orange to red bill, Pyrrhuloxia has rounded gray to yellow bill. Male Northern Cardinal has black mask, male Pyrrhuloxia has a red mask.
Image by: 1) Motorrad67 2) Jay Scratch 3, 4) Jerry Oldenettel - New Mexico 5) Dick Daniels - Tuscon, Arizona 2, 6) Andy_Morffew - Texas 7) Charley Westerinen - Agulia, Arizona 8) Evan Bornholtz - ArizonaSimilar to: Northern Cardinal. Northern Cardinal has a pointed, orange to red bill, Pyrrhuloxia has rounded gray to yellow bill. Male Northern Cardinal has black mask, male Pyrrhuloxia has a red mask.
1, 2, 3) Female 4) Nonbreding male 5 - 8) Breeding male
Genus Chlorothraupis
Tanager,_Lemon_Spectacled Chlorothraupis olivacea Found: Columbia, Ecuador, Panama
The male Lemon Spectacled Tanager has dark olive-green plumage; yellow eye-rin; heavy dark bill. Female has yellowish-olive underparts.
Image by: 1) Bonner zoologische Monographien 2, 3) Nick Athanas - Columbia
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Tanager,_Ochre-breasted Chlorothraupis stolzmanni Found: Columbia, Ecuador
The Ochre-breasted Tanager has mainly dull olive-green plumage; heavy black bill; pale gray iris; yellowish tinge to underparts.
Image by: 1) Michael Woodruff - Ecuador 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Peter_Lewis in Ecuador 3) Nick Athanas - Ecuador
Tanager,_Olive also Carmiol's Tanager Chlorothraupis carmioli Found: Central America and northern South America
The Olive Tanager has olive upperparts; yellow-green underparts; yellowish throat contrasting with greener head.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Panama 2) Aaron_Maizlish - Panama 3) David Rodriguez - Costa Rica 
Genus Habia
Ant-tanagers are long-tailed and strong billed birds. Males have a red crest and plumage containing red, brown or sooty hues. Females may resemble the males or be largely yellowish or brown in color. Theeat ants and other insects plus occasionally fruit. The female alone builds a cup nest and incubates the two or three eggs. The young leave the nest before they can fly and hide in dense vegetation. Ant-tanagers have harsh call notes but musical whistled songs.
Tanager,_Black-cheeked_Ant- Habia atrimaxillaris Found: Costa Rica
The Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager has muted dark brown plumage; lighter underparts; salmon colored throat. Male and female similar with males having brighter salmon-orange crest.
Image by: 1) David Rodriguez 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Chris_Morgan in Costa Rica 3) Nick Athanas 
Tanager,_Crested Ant- Habia cristata Found: Columbia
The Crested Ant-Tanager has a red head, neck, upper-breast; grayish flanks and belly. Sexes are similar; female has smaller crest.
Image by: 1) Felix_Uribe - Columbia 2) Francesco Veronesi - Columbia 
Tanager,_Red-crowned Ant- Habia rubica Found: Mexico south to Paraguay and northern Argentina, and on Trinidad.
The male Red-crowned Ant-Tanager has dull reddish-brown upperparts; brighter red throat, breast; scarlet crown stripe. Female has mainly yellowish-brown plumage; yellow throat; yellow-buff crown stripe.
Image by: 1) Dani e Iron 2) Claudio Timm 3, 4) Nick Athanas - Panama 5) Hector Bottai - Brazil
1, 2, 3) Female 4, 5) Male
Tanager,_Red-throated Ant- Habia fuscicauda Found: Mexico, Central America
The male Red-throated Ant-Tanager has dull dusky-red upperparts; paler underparts; bright red throat, central crown. Female has brownish-olive upperparts; paler and grayer underpartsyellow throat; small dull yellow crown stripe.
Image by: 1, 5) Cathy and Sam - Costa Rica 2) Nick Athanas - Panama 3) Jerry Oldenettel - Belize 4) Robert_Shea - Costa Rica
1) Female 2, 3, 4) Male
Tanager,_Sooty Ant- Habia gutturalis Found: Columbia
The male Sooty Ant-Tanager has mainly dusky gray plumage; scarlet-red crest; reddish-pink center of throat; black sides of throat and crest. Female similar to male but less dusky; white throat with some pinkish red.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Peter_Hawrylyshyn 2) Nick Athanas1, 2) Male
Genus Piranga
Tanager,_Flame-colored Piranga bidentata Found: Arizona to Panama
Similar to: Western Tanager. The ear marks of the Flame-colored Tanager differentiate it from the Western Tanager
Image by: 1, 2) Jerry Oldenettel - Costa Ricz 3) Dick Daniels - Boquette, Panama 4) Francesco Veronesi - Panama 5) Muchaxo - Costa Rica
Tanager,_Hepatic Piranga flava Found: Southwestern USA to northern Argentina
Similar to: Summer Tanager. Female Summer Tanager has a longer, lighter colored bill than the female Hepatic Tanager. Male Summer Tanager is brighter red than male Hepatic Tanager.
Image by: 1, 4) Cláudio Timm - Cabo Polonio,
Uruguay 2) Jerry
Oldenettel - Costa Rica
3) Julian_Londono - Columbia 5) Elaine_Wilson 6) Kennedy_Andrade_Borges - Brazil
1, 2, 3) Female 4, 5, 6) Male
Tanager,_Red-headed Piranga erythrocephala Found: western Mexico
The male Red-headed Tanager has olive upperparts; yellow underparts; red head, throat. Female similar but lacks red on head and has paler belly.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Rolando_Chavez, Nigel_Voaden 3) Ron_Knight _(8079395236).jpg){kind=link}
Tanager,_Red-hooded Piranga rubriceps Found; Columbai, Ecuador, Peru
The male and female Red-hooded Tanager are similar, but female has less red on the breast.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Juan_Ramirez_Rpo 2) Nick Athanas1) Female 2) Male
Tanager,_Rose-throated Piranga roseogularis Found: Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico
The male Rose-throated Tanager has gray upperparts; paler gray underparts; rusty-red crown; rosy-pink throat; white eye-ring. Female has similar patterns with the red of males replaced by yellow-olive; pink replace by pale yellow-wash.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ian_Davies 2) Jorge Montejo - Mexico1, 2) Female
Tanager,_Scarlet Piranga olivacea Found: eastern North America to northwest South America
The male Scarlet Tanager has mainly crimson red plumage; black wings, tail. Female has olive upperparts; yellowish underparts.
Similar to: Summer Tanger. The male Scarlet Tanager has darker wings than the male Summer Tanager. The female Summer Tanager has a bigger bill than the female Scarlet Tanager.
Image by: 1) Kelly Colgan Azar 2) Jamie Chavez - California3, 4, 5) Jerry Oldenettel 6) Len Blumin - Florida 7) nebirdsplusSimilar to: Summer Tanger. The male Scarlet Tanager has darker wings than the male Summer Tanager. The female Summer Tanager has a bigger bill than the female Scarlet Tanager.
1) Juvenile or female 3) Nonbreeding male 4 - 7) Breeding male
Tanager,_Summer Piranga rubra Found: southern USA to northern South America
Similar to: Hepatic Tanager. Female Summer Tanager has a longer, lighter colored bill than the female Hepatic Tanager. Male Summer Tanager is brighter red than male Hepatic Tanager.
Similar to: Scarlet Tanger. The male Scarlet Tanager has darker wings than the male Summer Tanager. The female Summer Tanager has a bigger bill than the female Scarlet Tanager.
Image by: 1) Paula McVann - Missouri 2) Pamela Wilson 3) Julian
Londono - Colombia 4) Andrej_Chudy - California 5) New Jersey Birds Similar to: Scarlet Tanger. The male Scarlet Tanager has darker wings than the male Summer Tanager. The female Summer Tanager has a bigger bill than the female Scarlet Tanager.
1, 2) Female 3, 4, 5) Male
Tanager,_Western Piranga ludoviciana Found: North America, Central America
Similar to: Flame-colored Tanager. The ear marks of the Flame-colored Tanager differentiate it from the Western Tanager
Image by: 1, 5) Elaine R Wilson - Oregon 2, 4) Alan D Wilson - Near Fort Rock, Oregon 3) Andrej_Chudy - California1, 2) Female 3, 4, 5) Male
Tanager,_White-winged Piranga leucoptera Found: Mexico, Central America, South America
The male White-winged Tanager has mainly red plumage; black wings with 2 white wing-bars. Female has mainly yellow plumage.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Antonio_Hidalgo in Mexico, Joao_Quental 3) Fernando Flores - Venezuela 
1) Female 2, 3) Male
