Red-crowned Ant Tanager (Habia rubica) [XC351600]
by Herman van Oosten from La Bajada, San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico (song)
Red-crowned Ant Tanager (Habia rubica) [XC575069]
by Franco Vushurovich from Parque Nacional El Imposible, El Salvador, El Salvador (song)
Subspecies
Molecular-genetic evidence indicates that this genus may form a monophyletic group with Piranga and Chlorothraupis, and that all three are more closely related to cardinals (Cardinalidae) than to true tanagers. Nominate subspecies and bahiae geographically isolated from all other subspecies, in region of south-eastern Brazil. Other subspecies are smaller and paler, with more contrasting pattern on head, and might represent a separate species. Several of the numerous subspecies are weakly differentiated and seem barely worth recognizing.
The following 17 subspecies are recognised:
holobrunnea Griscom, 1930 - Eastern Mexico from southern Tamaulipas south to northern Oaxaca.
rosea (Nelson, 1898) - Pacific slope of south-western Mexico from Nayarit and Jalisco south to Guerrero.
rubicoides (Lafresnaye, 1844) - Southern Mexico (from Pueblo, eastern Oaxaca, Tabasco and Chiapas), Guatemala and Belize south to Honduras, El Salvador and possibly Nicaragua.
alfaroana (Ridgway, 1905) - North-western Costa Rica (Guanacaste).
vinacea (Lawrence, 1867) - Pacific slope of Costa Rica (southern from Nicoya Peninsula) and Panama (east to Darién).
perijana Phelps & Phelps Jr, 1957 - Perijá Mts region of Venezuela-Colombia.
coccinea (Todd, 1919) - Base of Andes in western Venezuela (southern from Lara) and adjacent north-central Colombia.
crissalis Parkes, 1969 - North-eastern Venezuela (mountains of Anzoátegui and Sucre).
rubra (Vieillot, 1819) - Trinidad.
mesopotamia Parkes, 1969 - Eastern Venezuela (R Yuruán region of eastern Bolívar).
rhodinolaema (Salvin & Godman, 1883) - Colombia east of Andes (from Meta south to Caquetá), north-western Brazil, eastern Ecuador and north-eastern Peru.
peruviana (Taczanowski, 1884) - Eastern Peru, western Brazil and northern Bolivia (south to Santa Cruz).
hesterna Griscom & Greenway, 1937 - Central Brazil south of R Amazon (east to R Xingu, south to northern Mato Grosso).
bahiae Hellmayr, 1936 - North-eastern and central-eastern Brazil (Alagoas; south-eastern Bahia).
rubica (Vieillot, 1817) - Eastern Paraguay, south-eastern Brazil (from southern Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo south to Rio Grande do Sul) and north-eastern Argentina (Misiones).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet