Paroaria

Paroaria, the red-headed cardinals or cardinal-tanagers (as they are not close to the Cardinalidae), are a genus of tanagers. They were until recently placed in the family Emberizidae.

Paroaria
Top left: Paroaria coronata Top right: Paroaria dominicana Left center: Paroaria nigrogenis Right center: Paroaria gularis gularis Bottom left: Paroaria capitata Bottom right: Paroaria g. cervicalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Thraupidae
Genus:	Paroaria Bonaparte, 1832
Type species
Loxia coronata Miller, JF, 1776
Species
See text

P. coronata showing typical color pattern of genus

Five or six species are placed here. They are all very similar-looking birds, resembling a northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis, a true member of the Cardinalidae), though they are somewhat more slender, in particular the rather tanager-like bill.

Their coloration is also typical; they are quite unlike any Cardinalidae, though they bear a passing resemblance to adult male rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus). Like these, they are white below and dark above (grey to blackish in the case of Paroaria). But unlike P. ludovicianus, they have no conspicuous pattern except for the head, which has large amounts of bright red; it may be predominantly so or patterned red-and-black. Almost all Paroaria have at least a short crest. The bill is yellowish below or in its entirety.

Taxonomy and species list

The genus Paroaria was introduced in 1832 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte with the red-crested cardinal as the type species.[1][2] The name is from Tiéguacú paroára, a name for a small yellow, red and grey bird in the extinct Tupi language.[3]

The genus contains six species:[4]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Paroaria coronata	Red-crested cardinal	northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul and southern part of the Pantanal.
	Paroaria dominicana	Red-cowled cardinal	Brazil.
	Paroaria gularis	Red-capped cardinal	Guianas, Venezuela, eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, northern and eastern Bolivia and the Amazon basin in Brazil.
	Paroaria nigrogenis	Masked cardinal	Trinidad, far north-eastern Colombia and northern Venezuela
	Paroaria baeri	Crimson-fronted cardinal	Brazil.
	Paroaria capitata	Yellow-billed cardinal	Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, and northern Argentina

References

1. Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1832). "Aggiunte e correzioni relative agli animali vertebrati a sangue caldo". Giornale Arcadico di Scienze, Lettre ed Arti (in Italian). 52: 190–209 [206].
2. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Volume 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 212.
3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 November 2020.

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