He was the youngest of four children of Marshal André Masséna, Prince of Essling and Duke of Rivoli, and Anne Marie Rosalie Lamare.
Masséna accumulated a large bird collection of 12,500 specimens, which he sold to Dr. Thomas Bellerby Wilson in 1846.
Masséna described a number of new parrots with his nephew Charles de Souancé, including the green-cheeked parakeet.
The slaty-tailed trogon, crimson-mantled woodpecker and Rivoli's hummingbird were all named in his honor.
Anna's hummingbird was named in her honor by fellow ornithologist René Primevère Lesson.