''Paroaria'', the red-headed cardinals or cardinal-tanagers (as they are not close to the

Cardinalidae Cardinalidae (often referred to as the "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply the "cardinals") is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several birds such as the tanager-lik ...

), are a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial no ...

tanager The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropica ...

s. They were until recently placed in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

Emberizidae. Five or six

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

are placed here. They are all very similar-looking birds, with heads resembling that of a

northern cardinal The northern cardinal (''Cardinalis cardinalis'') is a bird in the genus '' Cardinalis''; it is also known colloquially as the redbird, common cardinal, red cardinal, or just cardinal (which was its name prior to 1985). It can be found in southe ...

(''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 The rose-breasted grosbeak (''Pheucticus ludovicianus''), colloquially called "cut-throat" due to its coloration, is a large, seed-eating grosbeak in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). It is primarily a foliage gleaner. Males have black heads, ...

(''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 Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ...

with the red-crested cardinal as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

. The name is from ''Tiéguacú paroára'', a name for a small yellow, red and grey bird in the extinct

Tupi language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi (also spelled as Tupí) is an extinct Tupian language which was spoken by the aboriginal Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. It belongs to ...

. The genus contains six species:

References

Bird genera Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte {{Thraupidae-stub