[2][3] The IOC World Bird List recognises five subspecies of Piranga hepatica, found in North and Central America.

The song is a three to four second long beautiful and thrush-like series, but also reminiscent of a black-capped cardinal.

The most common sound is rendered in English literature as a clipped "tchup", while in flight it sometimes emits a soft, scream-like "wenk".

[7] There it is seen jumping slowly upwards in trees and bushes in search of food, but can also catch flying insects by lunging.

[3] It looks for food in the foliage of trees, moving slowly and methodically; different individuals use different strategies.