Scarlet Tanager
Piranga olivacea
- Family
- Cardinals and Allies (Cardinalidae)
- Order
- Passeriformes
Overview
The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a medium-sized American songbird in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). It was placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae) until 2009, but was moved to Cardinalidae following several genetic studies indicating the Piranga tanagers are more closely related to cardinals and their allies. Breeding males have bright red plumage with black wings and tails, while females are yellow-olive. Outside the breeding season, males develop plumage similar to that of females, although their wings and tails remain darker.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to see it
Destination guides featuring this bird
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- SSeptember: Good
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- JJanuary: Poor or no data
- FFebruary: Poor or no data
- MMarch: Good
- AApril: Best
- MMay: Good
- JJune: Poor or no data
- JJuly: Poor or no data
- AAugust: Poor or no data
- SSeptember: Poor or no data
- OOctober: Poor or no data
- NNovember: Poor or no data
- DDecember: Poor or no data
Range and habitat
Breeds eastern Canada and USA; winters mainly upper Amazon basin.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Scarlet tanager
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
