Tanagers (Thraupidae)

Blue-and-yellow Tanager (Thraupis bonariensis) - HBW 16, p. 194

French: Tangara fourchu German: Furchentangare Spanish: Tangara Naranjera
Other common names: Darwin’s Tanager (darwinii)

Taxonomy: Loxia bonariensis J. F. Gmelin, 1789, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Recent molecular-genetic data do not support monophyly of genus as currently constituted: six of eight species sampled embedded with Tangara, a finding that makes genus Tangara paraphyletic; present species appears to be most closely related to Pipraeidea and Iridosornis, not Tangara. Geographical variation in plumage substantial; darwinii dullest race, sometimes considered a separate species, also differing somewhat in song from others; further study needed. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

darwinii (Bonaparte, 1838) - Andes of Ecuador (from S Carchi, Imbabura and extreme W Napo S, mainly in C highlands, to Loja), and in Peru S on W slope to N Chile (Tarapacá) and on E slope to Bolivia (La Paz).
composita J. T. Zimmer, 1944 - C Bolivia (Cochabamba and Santa Cruz).
schulzei Brodkorb, 1938 - SE Bolivia, extreme W Paraguay and NW Argentina (S to Mendoza, La Pampa, and San Antonio Oeste, in N Río Negro).
bonariensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) - SE Brazil (S São Paulo to Rio Grande do Sul), Uruguay and E Argentina (S to Buenos Aires province).