Field Guide to Birds of North America
Scarlet Tanager
General
Scarlet Tanager: Medium-sized tanager with brilliant red body and black wings and tail. Bill is heavy and yellow-gray. Winter male has dull green upperparts and yellow-green underparts, often interspersed with red during molt. Female and juvenile resemble winter male but have duller wings and tails, and may show thin wing-bars.
Range and Habitat
Scarlet Tanager: Breeds from extreme southeastern Canada to east-central U.S. Spends winters in northwestern South American tropical forests. Found in deciduous forests, pine-oak woodlands, parks, and suburban areas with large trees.
Listen to Call
Voice Text
"querit, queer, query, querit, queer"
Interesting Facts
Scarlet Tanagers have been recorded eating over 2,000 gypsy- moth caterpillars in an hour.
They become noisy and swoop around most birds who prey on them, such as Blue Jays and Eastern Screech owls, however they remain still and quiet around Merlins and American Crows.
The song of the Scarlet Tanager has been compared to that of a “robin with a sore throat.”
A group of tanagers are collectively known as "a season of tanagers."
Author
|
Family
Tanager (Thraupidae)_blue
|
Species
Piranga olivacea
|
Length7
Inches
|
Wingspan11.5
Inches
|
Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet Tanager: Medium tanager with brilliant red body, black wings, tail. The only bird in North America with this unique plumage. Heavy bill is yellow-gray. Gray legs and feet. Winter male has dull green upperparts, yellow-green underparts, often interspersed with red during molt.
● Song: "querit, queer, query, querit, queer"
● Foraging & Feeding: Scarlet Tanager: Feeds on insects, fruits, berries, and buds. Forages high in trees, but may seek prey on the ground, or catch insects in the air.
● Breeding & nesting: Scarlet Tanager: Two to five blue green eggs marked with brown are laid in a loose nest made of grass, rootlets, forbs, and twigs, lined with fine grass, forbs, and rootlets, and built on a horizontal branch well out from the trunk, 20 to 30 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 13 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.
● Similar species: Scarlet Tanager: Summer and Hepatic Tanagers are entirely red. Female Summer and Hepatic Tanagers have orange washes on underparts; female Hepatic also has dark bill.
Flight Pattern
Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
|
BreedingMonogamous
|
PopulationFairly common
|
MigrationMigratory
|
Weight1
Ounces
|