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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Piranga olivacea
Scarlet Tanager

 
Scientific Name: Piranga olivacea (Gmelin, 1789)
English Name: Scarlet Tanager
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: B-SCTA
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Aves Passeriformes Cardinalidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: SNA (Apr 2026)
BC List: Accidental
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2005)
Migratory Bird Convention Act: Y
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description: In the spring and early summer, the male is scarlet, with black wings and tail. During the late summer and fall, splotchy green is evident within the red as the molt to the yellow-green winter plumage begins. Measurements: length 17 cm, mass 23.5-33 g. The female is dull greenish above with yellowish below. Wings are dark brownish to blackish. The immature male resembles the adult female, but is brighter below, with brownish primaries that are retained throughout the first summer. Wing coverts are black. Fledglings are olive green above with dark white streaks below. Wings are dark brownish or blackish. Some show faint wing bars. An illustration appears in NGS (1987).

NEST: a small, loose, flat saucer-shaped nest of twigs, rootlets, coarse grass, and weed stems. Inside lined with finer grasses, weed stems, or pine needles. Eggs sometimes can be seen through the bottom.

EGGS: pale blue to pale green with irregularly dotted, spotted, blotched browns. These markings are often concentrated at the large end. Sources for this section are Senesac (1993), Isler and Isler (1987), Terres (1980), Harrison (1975), Prescott (1965), and Bent (1958).
Global Reproduction Comments: Males arrive in breeding areas in April and May, usually several days before the female, and establish a territory by singing almost continuously from conspicuous perches high in the canopy of mature trees. Territorial boundaries are not rigid and males frequently dispute, especially when the female is present (Isler and Isler 1987, Prescott 1965). Once paired, the male abandons the high perch. The female chooses the nest site and builds the nest alone (Isler and Isler 1987). The nest is built in 2-7 days.

In the mid-Atlantic states, nesting extends from early May to early August, with a peak from late May to mid-July (Bushman and Therres 1988). Eggs are laid mostly in May-June. Clutch size is 3-5 (usually 4). Incubation, by female, lasts 12-14 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest at 9-15 days, usually 14-15 days after hatching. The nestlings are brooded by the female for about 3 days after they hatch. During this time both parents feed the young. Fledged young are attended by adult for up to 2 weeks after fledging. Nests sometimes contain young into August. It is thought that only one brood is raised per season (Senesac 1993, Isler and Isler 1987, Prescott 1965).

During the breeding season, females sing a song that is similar to that of the males, and both males and females also produce the "chic-burr" call.
Global Ecology Comments: In migration, this usually solitary tanager sometimes is found in loosely associated groups and may join mixed-species flocks. Summer home ranges often relatively large for a forest passerine; territory size varies a great deal, reported sizes 0.8 to 12.5 hectares (summarized in Mowbray 1999).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: This species arrives in most of the southern United States in April, in the northern states and southern Canada by early to late May. South-bound migration begins in late August, peaks in September and (in the southern United States) early October.

Migrates through Middle America and in smaller number in West Indies. Rare spring and fall migrant in West Indies (Raffaele 1983). Fairly regular passage migrant in Netherlands Antilles (Ridgely and Tudor 1989). Migration in Costa Rica late September-early November and late March-early May (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Arrives in Colombia by October, departs by early May (Hilty and Brown 1986).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments: Scarlet tanagers breed in deciduous forest and mature deciduous woodland, including deciduous and mixed swamp and floodplain forests and rich moist upland forests, often where oaks predominate (Bushman and Therres 1988), sometimes in wooded parks, orchards, and large shade trees of suburbs (Isler and Isler 1987, Senesac 1993), less often in mixed deciduous-coniferous forest (Hamel et al. 1982, Hamel 1992). They are most common in areas with a relatively closed canopy, a dense understory with a high diversity of shrubs, and scanty ground cover, and are able to breed successfully in relatively small patches of forest (Bushman and Therres 1988). Breeding occurs in various forest stages but is most frequent in mature woods (according to some sources, prefers pole stands). In New England, nesting occurs mainly in sawtimber hardwoods. Nests are placed in trees (commonly oaks), usually well out on limbs, 2-23 meters above ground. Typical nest site characteristics: 1) the nest is placed in a leaf cluster, or with at least several leaves shading the nest, 2) the nest is placed on a nearly horizontal tree branch, 3) there is a clear unobstructed view of the ground from the nest, and 4) there are flyways from adjacent trees to the nest (Senesac 1993).

During the northern winter, scarlet tanagers inhabit forest canopies and edges, including tall second growth (Isler and Isler 1987). Migrants may occur in more open habitats, such as woodlands, parks, and gardens, as well as forests (Isler and Isler 1987).
Food Habits: Frugivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Eats insects and other invertebrates, and various fruits; diet includes moths, bees, caterpillars, larvae of gall insects, wood- and bark-boring beetles, click and leaf-eating beetles, crane flies, and all stages of gypsy moths, except the eggs. Nestlings are fed insects and fruit. Forages primarily at mid-canopy (6-18 m off the ground). Occasionally descends to the ground or ascends to the topmost tree branches. Searches for insects on leaves, twigs, and branches, examining the substrate in a leisurely fashion. Often picks at dense leaf clusters at the outer tips of limbs (Isler and Isler 1987). Also chases aerial insects (Bushman and Therres 1988). May feed on ground-dwelling prey (e.g., grasshoppers, ground beetles, earthworms) during periods of persistent rainfall and/or low temperatures when flying insects are inactive (Zumeta and Holmes 1978). These authors suggested that severe cases of inclement weather may contribute to a significant several-year reduction in local scarlet tanager breeding populations.
Global Phenology: Diurnal: Adult, Immature
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 20/ / 29
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: Breeding range extends from North Dakota, eastern Saskatchewan (probably), and southern Manitoba eastward across southern Canada and the northern United States to New Brunswick and central Maine, and south to central Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, northern Alabama, northern Georgia, northwestern South Carolina, western North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland (AOU 1998). During the northern winter, the range extends from Panama (rarely) and Colombia south, east of the Andes, through eastern Ecuador and Peru and western Brazil to northwestern Bolivia (Stiles and Skutch 1989, AOU 1998); apparently mainly in upper Amazonia (Ridgely and Tudor 1989). Recently recorded in Amazonia of Brazil (Stotz et al. 1992). Scarlet tanagers migrate primarily through the south-central and southeastern United States, Middle America, and the West Indies.
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Zeller, N. S., and G. Hammerson
Last Updated: Jan 29, 2010
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
Bushman, E. S., and G. D. Therres. 1988. Habitat management guidelines for forest interior breeding birds of coastal Maryland. Maryland Dept. Natural Resources, Wildlife Tech. Publ. 88-1. 50 pp.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I.McT.-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G. Kaiser, A.C. Stewart, and M.C.E. McNall. 2001. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 4, Passerines: Wood-Warblers through Old World Sparrows. UBC Press, in cooperation with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv., and B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch and Resour. Inventory Branch, and Royal B.C. Mus. 744pp.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
Hilty, S.L. and W. L. Brown. 1986. A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. 836 pp.
Isler, M. L., and P. R. Isler. 1987. The tanagers. Natural history, distribution, and identification. Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington, D.C. 404 pp.
Mowbray, T. B. 1999. Scarlet Tanager (PIRANGA OLIVACEA). No. 479 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 28 pages.
Prescott, K. W. 1965a. Studies in the life history of the scarlet tanager, PIRANGA OLIVACEA. New Jersey State Mus. Investig. No. 2. Trenton, New Jersey. 159 pp.
Raffaele, H. A. 1983a. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp.
Ridgely, R. S. and G. Tudor. 1989. The birds of South America. Volume 1. University of Texas Press, Austin, USA. 516 pp.
Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
Stotz, D. F., et al. 1992. The status of North American migrants in central Amazonian Brazil. Condor 94:608-621.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2010. Species Summary: Piranga olivacea. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Nov 5, 2026).