Scarlet Tanager - Species Profile
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List
LC - Least Concern
NatureServe
N5B - Secure Breeding
SNRB - Unranked Breeding
Minnesota
not listed
Description
Size
Total length: 6¼″ to 6¾″
Wingspan: 9⅞″ to 117 ⁄16″
Voice
Four or five raspy notes, described by some as “a robin with a sore throat.”
Similar Species
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.
Habitat
Mature deciduous forests and mixed forests.
Ecology
Migration
May to early October
Nesting
Diet
Insects, spiders snales, and earthworms; also seasonal berries.
Distribution
Occurrence
Uncommon migrant and breeder in the Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province and Laurentian Mixed Forest Province. Uncommon to rare migrant in the Prairie Parkland Province.
Maps
The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map
Taxonomy
Class
Aves (Birds)
Order
Passeriformes (Perching Birds)
Family
Cardinalidae (Cardinals and Allies)
Genus
Piranga (Northern Tanagers)
Family
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).
Subordinate Taxa
Synonyms
Tanagra olivacea
