Tanagers (Thraupidae)

Flame-crested Tanager (Tachyphonus cristatus) - HBW 16, p. 177

French: Tangara à huppe ignée German: Haubentangare Spanish: Tangara Crestifuego
Other common names: Scarlet-crested Tanager; Natterer’s Tanager (nattereri)

Taxonomy: Tanagra cristata Linnaeus, 1766, Cayenne, French Guiana.
Genetic data indicate that this species is sister to T. rufiventer and that T. luctuosus is sister to both of these. Present species exhibits marked geographical variation in plumage, with racial limits poorly defined. Very poorly known taxon nattereri, with distinctive male plumage, may represent a separate species but usually considered a race of present species or aberrant example of madeirae; a female specimen once thought possibly to be of nattereri was subsequently reassigned to madeirae (recent “discovery” of an additional specimen, presumably of nattereri, may shed light on this question). Taxonomic status of isolated E coastal race brunneus also worthy of investigation. Given the amount and complexity of variation within this species, and the fact that, conversely, differences between some races seem trivial, a full taxonomic review seems warranted. Ten subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

orinocensis J. T. Zimmer & Phelps, Sr, 1945 - extreme E Colombia and S & SE Venezuela (N & E Amazonas and W Bolívar E to R Paragua and R Caroní).
intercedens Berlepsch, 1880 - E Venezuela (E of R Caroní) E to Guyana and Suriname.
cristatus (Linnaeus, 1766) - French Guiana and NE Brazil (N of R Amazon and E of R Nhamundá).

See all 10 subspecies

orinocensis J. T. Zimmer & Phelps, Sr, 1945 - extreme E Colombia and S & SE Venezuela (N & E Amazonas and W Bolívar E to R Paragua and R Caroní).
intercedens Berlepsch, 1880 - E Venezuela (E of R Caroní) E to Guyana and Suriname.
cristatus (Linnaeus, 1766) - French Guiana and NE Brazil (N of R Amazon and E of R Nhamundá).
cristatellus P. L. Sclater, 1862 - SE Colombia (from vicinity of Villavicencio, in Meta) and S Venezuela (SW Amazonas) S to extreme NW Peru and NW Brazil (S & E to Manaus).
fallax J. T. Zimmer, 1945 - S Colombia (SE Nariño), E Ecuador and N Peru (S to lower R Ucayali).
huarandosae Chapman, 1925 - Huarandosa (in Chinchipe Valley, near Marañón Valley) in N Peru.
madeirae Hellmayr, 1910 - C Brazil S of Amazon (from Teffé E to R Xingu and S into Mato Grosso), also adjacent SE Peru (E Madre de Dios) and adjacent N Bolivia (Pando and N Beni).
nattereri Pelzeln, 1870 - WC Mato Grosso (Villa Maria, near Cáceres), in SW Brazil.
pallidigula J. T. Zimmer, 1945 - NE Brazil (Pará and lower R Tocantins).
brunneus (Spix, 1825) - E Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte S, discontinuously, to NE Santa Catarina; possibly also Maranhão E to Paraíba.