Tanagers (Thraupidae)

Sayaca Tanager (Thraupis sayaca) - HBW 16, p. 191

French: Tangara sayaca German: Sayacatangare Spanish: Tangara Sayaca
Other common names: Blue Tanager (when treated as conspecific with T. episcopus)

Taxonomy: Tanagra Sayaca Linnaeus, 1766, possibly Pernambuco, Brazil.
Recent molecular-genetic data do not support monophyly of genus as currently constituted: six (including present species) of eight species sampled embedded with Tangara, a finding that makes genus Tangara paraphyletic. This species may form a superspecies with T. episcopus and T. glaucocolpa; replaces former S of Amazonia. Sometimes considered conspecific with one or both of these; reported vocal differences from T. episcopus require confirmation; differs markedly from T. glaucocolpa in plumage, voice and habitat. Race boliviana could belong with T. episcopus, with which it shares some plumage features (e.g. white on shoulder), but in several other ways is closer to present species; extent, if any, to which this race overlaps with T. episcopus in N Bolivia requires investigation. Review of taxonomic status of both groups seems to be warranted. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

boliviana J. Bond & Meyer de Schauensee, 1941 - N Bolivia.
obscura Naumburg, 1924 - C & S Bolivia S to W Argentina (S to Tucumán, Córdoba and Santa Fe).
sayaca (Linnaeus, 1766) - E & S Brazil (Mato Grosso E to Maranhão and Ceará, S to Rio Grande do Sul), Paraguay, NE Argentina (S to Buenos Aires) and Uruguay.