Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay (B), USA (B), Venezuela.
Population
Estimated population is 5,000,000 - 50,000,000 (2010).
Red Tanager (Piranga flava) [XC880852]
by Douglas Meyer from Santa Rita do Novo Destino, Goi\u00e1s, Ch\u00e1cara Jayrson, Brazil (call)
Red Tanager (Piranga flava) [XC19962]
by Niels Krabbe from Chuquisaca: Cerro Palmarcito, Bolivia (call)
Subspecies
Molecular-genetic evidence indicates that this genus forms a monophyletic group with Habia and Chlorothraupis, and that all three are more closely related to cardinals (Cardinalidae) than to true tanagers. This species, Hepatic Tanager (Piranga hepatica) and Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea) have traditionally been treated as conspecific, but molecular-genetic analyses suggest that they are better regarded as three separate species, sequence divergence (cytochrome b gene) between individuals from extremes of range (Mexico and Bolivia) being as high as 6·1%. Molecular-genetic data indicate that Hepatic Tanager (Piranga hepatica) and Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea) are sisters, with present species sister to them. Present species and Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea) differ most in areas where their distributions approach one another. However, analysis of geographical variation complicated by considerable individual, age and seasonal variation. Subspecies macconnelli very poorly differentiated from saira and may be better subsumed within it. A thorough review is required.
The following 15 subspecies are recognised:
macconnelli Chubb, C, 1921 - Southern Guyana and northern Brazil (eastern Roraima) east to southern Suriname; possibly also French Guiana.
saira (von Spix, 1825) - Eastern and southern Brazil (both banks of R Amazon in Amapá and central Pará; south-eastern Alagoas; and from central Maranhío and central Piauí south to eastern and southern Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul).
rosacea Todd, 1922 - Eastern Bolivia (eastern Santa Cruz).
flava (Vieillot, 1822) - South-eastern Bolivia (from Cochabamba and southern Santa Cruz), Paraguay to northern and central Argentina (south to Mendoza, Córdoba, northern Buenos Aires) and Uruguay.
hepatica Swainson, 1827 - Breeds south-western USA (eastern California, Arizona and western New Mexico, casually elsewhere) south through highlands of Mexico (to Guerrero and Oaxaca). Those in north migrate to southern portion of breeding range or descend to lower elevations in winter. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Hepatic Tanager (Piranga hepatica).
dextra Bangs, 1907 - Breeds southern USA (mountains of New Mexico and western Texas) south through highlands of eastern Mexico (to central Veracruz, eastern Oaxaca and Chiapas). Those in north migrate mainly to area from central Nuevo León and Tamaulipas south to western Guatemala or descend to lower elevations in winter. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Hepatic Tanager (Piranga hepatica).
figlina Salvin & Godman, 1883 - Eastern Guatemala and Belize. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Hepatic Tanager (Piranga hepatica).
savannarum Howell, TR, 1965 - Extreme eastern Honduras and north-eastern Nicaragua. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Hepatic Tanager (Piranga hepatica).
albifacies Zimmer, JT, 1929 - Highlands of western Guatemala, Honduras, northern El Salvador and north-central Nicaragua. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Hepatic Tanager (Piranga hepatica).
testacea Sclater & Salvin, 1868 - Highlands from northern Costa Rica (Guanacaste) south to eastern Panama (eastern Darién). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea).
desidiosa Bangs & Noble, 1918 - South-western Colombia in middle and upper Cauca Valley (south from Antioquia, including isolated records at northern end of both western and central Andean ranges) and western slope of western Andes (Dagua Valley south to upper Patía Valley, in Cauca). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea).
lutea (Lesson, 1834) - Andes of south-western Colombia (Nariño) south through western Ecuador and Peru (south to Lima in west, and on eastern Andean slope from south of Marañón Valley) south to west-central Bolivia (Cochabamba). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea).
haemalea Salvin & Godman, 1883 - Tepuis of southern Venezuela (in Amazonas and Bolívar), and adjacent northern Brazil (Sierra Imerí) and the Guianas. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea).
faceta Bangs, 1898 - Northern Colombia (Santa Marta Mts) and Andes and northern cordilleras of Venezuela (east to Paria Peninsula); Trinidad. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea).
toddi Parkes, 1969 - Eastern Andes of Colombia on western slope (at El Cauca, in Magdalena, and Serranía de los Yariguíes, in Santander) and eastern slope (Chicamocha National Park, in Norte de Santander). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Hepatic-Tanager (Piranga lutea).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet