A widespread bird in South America, the burnished-buff tanager (Stilpnia cayana) is a member of the Thraupidae family. It is also called the rufous-crowned tanager.

Its distribution is as follows: the northern Guianas, the majority of Venezuela, and east-central Colombia; it is also present in Brazil close to the Amazon River’s mouth, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina. In Bolivia and Peru, it is also found on a local level. Its natural range includes woodlands, parks, gardens, and other man-made semi-open spaces with trees.

The burnished-buff tanager is a multi-subspecies bird that mostly belongs to one of two groups: the cayana group, which includes the northern and western subspecies, and the flava group, which includes the southern and eastern subspecies (with the Marajó Island subspecies huberi serving as an intermediary). In addition to a black mask, orange-rufous crown, and cream underparts, males of the cayana group can be identified by a unique blue tint on the chest and throat. Flava group males can be identified by their orange-buff crowns and buff underparts, which are adorned with a black patch that stretches from the mask, across the throat and central chest, and down to the mid-belly. The wings and tail of the males of both species are turquoise. Compared to males, females are less striking and their black patterning is more limited to a weakly defined “shadow” on their masks.

It is a common sight, often seen alone or in couples. Like many tanagers, this one is mostly a fruit eater, with a soft spot for Cecropia and Brazilian pepper fruits, as well as those of invasive Magnoliaceae like Michelia champaca.

Using the binomial nаme Tanagra cayana, the burnished-buff tanager was formally described in 1766 in the 12th edition of the Systema Naturae by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus.the third Cayenne, in French Guiana, is the type locality, and the specific epithet is its Latin form. It was previously thought that the burnished-buff tanager belonged to the genus Tangara. The 2016 introduction of the genus Stilpnia was the catalyst for its relocation.