Scarlet Tanager
(Piranga olivacea)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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| IUCN Red List | LC - Least Concern |
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| NatureServe | N5B - Secure Breeding SNRB - Unranked Breeding |
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| Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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Size |
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6¼″ to 6¾″ in length 9⅞″ to 117 ⁄16″ wingspan |
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Voice |
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Four or five raspy notes, described by some as “a robin with a sore throat.” |
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Similar Species |
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Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) has a prominent crown and a red bill. The male has a black mask and throat. The female is brownish-buff, not yellow. Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) male has red wings and tail, not black. The female has yellow wings, not olive. |
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Habitat |
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Mature deciduous forests and mixed forests. |
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Biology |
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Migration |
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May to early October |
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Nesting |
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Food |
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Insects, spiders snales, and earthworms; also seasonal berries. |
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Distribution |
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Occurrence |
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Uncommon migrant and breeder in the Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province and Laurentian Mixed Forest Province. Uncommon to rare migrant in the Prairie Parkland Province. |
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Maps |
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The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map |
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Taxonomy |
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| Class | Aves (birds) | ||
Order |
Passeriformes (perching birds) | ||
Family |
Cardinalidae (cardinals and allies) | ||
Genus |
Piranga (northern tanagers) | ||
The genus Piranga was formerly placed in the tanager family Thraupidae. Mitochondrial DNA data from several studies between 1997 and 2007 show that the genus is more closely related to cardinals (family Cardinalidae). |
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Synonyms |
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Visitor Photos |
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Share your photo of this bird. |
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Dan W. Andree |
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Male Scarlet Tanager... I heard the unique sounds it was making and located it up in a tree along a small creek in some dense woodlands in Norman County, Mn. May 26 2022. A beautiful bird. |
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Female Scarlet Tanager... She perched briefly below on a branch a few feet above a creek. |
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They nest in these areas. Particularly areas that have large mature oaks and other mature deciduous trees. Have seen and filmed both male and female in these woodlands and a male molting in summer turning more like the female in color. They arrive around mid-May to a little later in May and are gone by late Aug. I am sending a photo of an adult male I photographed this past Spring. I have seen them in mid-July-Aug. in the same region as well. That is how I know they are staying and not just passing through during migration. I re-sized the photo much smaller than the original. They are a beautiful bird. |
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Adult male |
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Laura Miller |
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Early morning visitor! |
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They came back after lunch today … got one more photo |
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Gregory Gilman |
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Ramona Abrego |
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Alicia Schmidt |
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Halsey |
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| We have had up to 10 males and 4 females for the past week. We are on the water in a wooded area. They have been feeding heavily on mealworms. |  |
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Fr. Jason Houck |
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| ... scarlet tanager outside of our office meeting room at St. Mary’s on the East side of Lake Calhoun. |  |
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Kayla Krizek |
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| Breeding male, just hanging out in our backyard right now! Stunning. Have never seen one in this area before. |  |
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Micheddy |
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| It was hanging around in our residential neighborhood. My first time ever seeing it, stunning in real life. |  |
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Niga-nab-kwe |
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| Seen here in the driftless area of southeastern Minnesota at the base of a heavily wooded bluff in a narrow valley with springs nearby. It alit on our deck for a few minutes and was feasting on the blood orange we had put out for the orioles. Breathtaking! What a treat to see it. |  |
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J Pipek |
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What a beauty! |
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Bill Reynolds |
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Male Scarlet Tanager First time ever to be able to watch a Scarlet Tanager in the wild! Ok not the wild, but in the backyard. He is a handsome fellow. |
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K Justice |
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| First time we've had one visit our waterfalls in the back yard. They're very watchful so we couldn't get too close. |  |
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Wayne Rasmussen |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
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Scarlet Tanager |
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Scarlet Tanager |
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Visitor Videos |
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Share your video of this bird. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link. |
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Dan W. Andree |
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| Male & Female Scarlet Tanager. Published on Feb 18, 2015 |
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About
A brief look at the adult male and female Scarlet Tanager I filmed in Northwestern Minnesota. Note the interesting tic burr sound of the adult male. |
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| Scarlet Tanagers filmed by Dan W. Andree Published on Feb 18, 2015 |
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About
A brief introduction to the Scarlet Tanagers in their natural woodland habitat. The male makes an interesting kind of tic burr sound and also sings in kind of a raspy tone. A bird not as easy to come across in some areas as they prefer large tracts of woodlands. I am always surprised when I come across an adult male in spring. It almost looks like some kind tropical bird. |
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Other Videos |
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| Scarlet Tanager in Maine WIld Bird Video Productions |
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About
Published on Jun 2, 2014 Found this male scarlet tanager on his territory early in the morning. They're definitely one of the toughest birds to expose for due to the bright red color. Pay no attention to the mud on his forehead! © 2014 Garth McElroy. www.featheredfotos.com |
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| Scarlet Tanager—Flame of Spring Lang Elliott |
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About
Uploaded on Apr 22, 2010 Here is a quickie edit of footage I got yesterday evening at Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky Not enough for a splendid portrait, but a good beginning. I am surprised at how good the footage looks where the background is white sky. Those would be throwaways in the still photography world. © 2010 Lang Elliott |
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| Preening Scarlet Tanager Mike McDowell |
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About
Uploaded on May 19, 2009 A male Scarlet Tanager preens shortly after bathing in the creek at Pheasant Branch Conservancy on May 19th, 2009. |
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| Piranga olivacea = SCARLET TANAGER Rob Curtis |
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About
Published on Jun 3, 2015 Piranga olivacea = SCARLET TANAGER, males and females feeding in maple tree, at Montrose Point in Chicago, 5/6/2015.. Image gallery: |
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| Scarlet Tanager in HD Minnesota Freedom Guy |
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About
Published on May 22, 2013 Scarlet Tanager Please Visit my Website : Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andy.minneapolis Please help support this channel: My Wish List : http://amzn.com/w/2RSXYZXRQL4K6 My Paypal:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=6EFC2B9K7GUME&lc=US&item_name=Please%20help%20support%20this%20channel%20%21&no_note=0&cn=Add%20special%20instructions%20to%20the%20seller%3a&no_shipping=2¤cy_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donate_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted |
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Visitor Sightings |
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Report a sighting of this bird. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location. |
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Dorene |
Location: Lake City, Minnesota It came to our feeders around 4 p.m. This is our first Scarlet Tanager, ever!!! |
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| Dan W. Andree 5/28/2022 |
Location: rural Norman Co. Mn. She perched briefly below on a branch a few feet above a creek. |
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| Dan W. Andree 5/26/2022 |
Location: Norman County, Mn. I heard the unique sounds it was making and located it up in a tree along a small creek in some dense woodlands in Norman County, Mn. May 26 2022. A beautiful bird. |
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Colleen Obrien/ Michael Lack |
Location: Frontenac State Park saw a mail and a female on the upper bluff trail. |
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| Laura Miller 5/22/2022 |
Location: Little Falls, MN They came back after lunch today … got one more photo |
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| Laura Miller 5/22/2022 |
Location: Little Falls, MN Early morning visitor! |
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Meredith |
Location: North Branch, MN Hanging around in the maple tree |
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Roxanne Nelson |
Location: Maplewood Mn I spotted a male around 3:00pm today. I have no feeders out because of the Avian flu, however he hung around at least ten minutes moving one time in between. |
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AmyW |
Location: Prior Lake, MN Saw a male at my feeder this afternoon for the 1st time. |
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| Alicia Schmidt 5/18/2020 |
Location: Cottonwood, MN |
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| John Aronson 5/18/2020 |
Location: Taylors Falls Mn |
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| Kathryn 5/18/2020 |
Location: Backyard in Maplewood Mn A pair of males was on our feeder eating the suet. We saw them twice in the afternoon. We have lived here 50 years and this is the first time we have seen these beautiful birds. |
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| Lisa 8/7/2019 |
Location: Flew to the shoulder of Hwy 107, north of Henriette, MN |
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| Mary 5/28/2019 |
Location: Woodville Cemetery, Waseca MN |
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| Ramona Abrego 5/27/2019 |
Location: Becker County |
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| Genevieve Ryan 5/27/2019 |
Location: near Lake Minnetonka and Excelsior First time seeing at my feeder. I put dried Mealworms in the mix. |
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| Joe 5/27/2019 |
Location: Minnehaha creek and Nokomis Avenue 2 sighted |
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| Laura Ault 5/28/2019 |
Location: Golden Valley, MN Male was seen twice today in a pair of large pine trees |
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| Steve 5/28/2019 |
Location: Princeton, MN He was on the Oriol feeder eating grape jelly. |
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| Rosey 5/28/2019 |
Location: Hamline-Midway intersection of Aldine and Van Buren Male |
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| Rachel 5/28/2019 |
Location: Lindstrom |
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| Roberta T 5/25/2019 |
Location: Elmcrest Park in Ramsey MN Also saw a Baltimore oriole and a goldfinch today at Elmcrest Park. As well as a hummingbird at my house a few miles away. Usually I don’t see the hummers until July or August. |
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| Ron Hammes 5/24/2019 |
Location: Forest Lake Male spent 20 plus minutes at our black sunflower feeder and the ground. Ate constantly. Flew to edge of marsh and woodline, perched for a few minutes. Lots of quality photos. |
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| Lynne Meyer 5/23/2019 |
Location: Apple Valley, Minnesota Both ground feeding on the edge of our woods! Lived here almost 30 years, first time seeing this species…now awaiting our yearly indigo bunting. |
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| Fr. Jason Houck 5/22/2019 |
Location: Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis, MN ... scarlet tanager outside of our office meeting room at St. Mary’s on the East side of Lake Calhoun. |
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| Kayla Krizek 5/21/2019 |
Location: Oakdale, MN Breeding male, just hanging out in our backyard right now! Stunning. Have never seen one in this area before. |
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| Annie 5/21/2019 |
Location: Saint Cloud MN
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| Micheddy 5/20/2019 |
Location: St. Michael, MN It was hanging around in our residential neighborhood. My first time ever seeing it, stunning in real life. |
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| Halsey 5/19/2019 |
Location: New Brighton, MN We have had up to 10 males and 4 females for the past week. We are on the water in a wooded area. They have been feeding heavily on mealworms. |
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| Sabrina Jennings 5/19/2019 |
Location: sw Rochester
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| Niga-nab-kwe 5/11/2019 |
Location: rural Winona County, 5 miles southwest of Winona and the Mississippi River Seen here in the driftless area of southeastern Minnesota at the base of a heavily wooded bluff in a narrow valley with springs nearby. It alit on our deck for a few minutes and was feasting on the blood orange we had put out for the orioles. Breathtaking! What a treat to see it. |
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| J Pipek 5/21/2018 |
Location: Detroit Lakes, MN What a beauty! |
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| Bill Reynolds 5/20/2018 |
Location: Pennington Co. MN First time ever to be able to watch a Scarlet Tanager in the wild! Ok not the wild, but in the backyard. He is a handsome fellow. |
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| Dan W. Andree 6/2/2017 |
Location: Norman County, Mn. Woodlands along the Wild Rice River and a tributary of the Wild Rice River. They nest in these areas. Particularly areas that have large mature oaks and other mature deciduous trees. Have seen and filmed both male and female in these woodlands and a male molting in summer turning more like the female in color. They arrive around mid-May to a little later in May and are gone by late Aug. I am sending a photo of an adult male I photographed this past Spring. I have seen them in mid-July-Aug. in the same region as well. That is how I know they are staying and not just passing through during migration. I re-sized the photo much smaller than the original. They are a beautiful bird. |
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| Dan W. Andree 6/2/2017 |
Location: Norman County, Mn. mature woodlands near a tributary to the Wild Rice River. Adult male |
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| ERJurgenson 5/21/2017 |
Location: akeley mn Two in our front yard |
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| Jim Breza 7/4/2016 |
Location: Winona, MN I have seen them last and this year by our pond in the backyard. We are in a heavily wooded valley and they stand right out when they are at the water's edge. |
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| K Justice 6/23/2016 |
Location: Elk River, MN First time we've had one visit our waterfalls in the back yard. They're very watchful so we couldn't get too close. |
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| Wayne Rasmussen 5/30/2016 |
Location: Nerstrand Big Woods State Park Scarlet-tanager at Big Woods |
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| Gregory Gilman 5/18/2015 |
Location: Rochester, MN |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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