Direct answer: The major types of tar include wood tar, pine tar, birch tar, coal tar, tar pitch, tar oil, creosote-related tar, and loose trade terms such as roofing tar or road tar.
Tar is a family name for dark, sticky, carbon-rich materials made by heating organic feedstocks such as wood, bark, coal, peat, bones, or petroleum-related materials. The word is old, practical, and often imprecise, which is why different industries use it differently.
Wood tars are strongest in craft, maritime, and heritage work. Birch tar is famous in archaeology as an adhesive. Coal tar belongs to industrial chemistry. Roofing and road tar are often trade or household phrases that may actually refer to bitumen or asphalt products. Tar pitch and tar oil describe fractions or states rather than original feedstocks.
The safest way to identify a tar is to ask four questions: what was it made from, how was it processed, what state is it in, and what was it meant to do. A black sticky appearance is never enough.
In short: Tar is a family of materials rather than one exact substance. Source material is the first major distinction. Processing and intended use change meaning. Many everyday tar phrases are imprecise.