The sayaca tanager (''Thraupis sayaca'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers. It is a common resident in northeastern, central, and southeastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

( pt, sanhaço or ), and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and northeastern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

(where they are known as or ). A few are recorded from far southeastern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, but its status there is unclear, in part due to the potential of confusion with the very similar juveniles of the blue-grey tanager. It occurs in a wide range of open to semiopen habitats, but generally avoids the interior of dense forest (such as the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

). This tanager visits farmland in search of orchards and adapts readily to urban environment, as long as some arboreal cover and a supply of fruits are available. It feeds on flowers, buds, and insects, and this

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

lifestyle has helped it to become perhaps the most — or one of the most — common urban birds in southeastern Brazil, along with the rufous-bellied thrush.

Taxonomy

The sayaca tanager was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

in the

12th edition 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nom ...

'' under the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Tanagra sayaca''. In 1648, well before the introduction of the binomial system, the German naturalist

Georg Marcgrave Georg Marcgrave (originally german: Georg Marggraf, also spelled ''"Marcgraf" "Markgraf"'') (1610 – 1644) was a German naturalist and astronomer, whose posthumously published ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' was a major contribution to early mod ...

had described the sayaca tanager as the ''Sayacu'' in his '' Historia Naturalis Brasiliae''. The specific epithet is from Tupi ''Saí-acú'' meaning "very lively"; it was applied to various tanagers. The

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

is the state of

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the ...

in Brazil. This species is now placed in the

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 n ...

'' Thraupis'' that was introduced by the German naturalist

Friedrich Boie Friedrich Boie (4 June 1789 – 3 March 1870) was a German entomologist, herpetologist, ornithologist, and lawyer.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University ...

in 1826. Three subspecies are recognised: * '' T. s. boliviana'' Bond & Meyer de Schauensee, 1941 – north Bolivia * ''T. s. obscura''

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. ...

, 1924 – central, south Bolivia to west Argentina * ''T. s. sayaca'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

, 1766) – east, south Brazil, Paraguay, northeast Argentina and Uruguay

References

External links

Sayaca Tanager videos
on the Internet Bird Collection

(for

) with RangeMap
Sayaca Tanager photo gallery
VIREO

Sayaca Tanager: "Sanhaço"

The Avifauna of the Interior of Ceará, Brazil sayaca tanager Birds of the Cerrado Birds of the Caatinga Birds of the Pantanal Birds of Brazil Birds of Bolivia Birds of Paraguay Birds of Uruguay Birds of Argentina sayaca tanager sayaca tanager Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Thraupidae-stub