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Bird name:

Scarlet Tanager

Piranga olivaceaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Tanagers (Thraupidae)
Codes: Common Name: SCTA Scientific Name: PIROLI ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179883

Breeding Location:

Forest



Breeding Type:

Monogamous



Breeding Population:

Fairly common



Egg Color:

Blue green with brown markings



Number of Eggs:

2 - 5



Incubation Days:

13 - 14



Egg Incubator:

Female



Nest Material:

Grass, rootlets, forbs, twigs., Lined with fine grass, forbs, rootlets.



Migration:

Migratory



Splitbar

Recommended Products:

Clingers Only Feeder
Weather resistant inexpensive feeder is ideal for small birds.
Suet Delight
Easy to hang and maintain, holds all kinds of packaged suet.
Ultimate Woodpecker Feeder
Only allows woodpeckers to feed made of Inland Cedar.
The No-No Copper Feeder
Beautiful copper feeder holds 2.5 lbs of sunflower seeds.
Attracting Clingers

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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Readily Eats

Safflower, Apple Slices, Suet, Millet, Peanut Kernels, Fruit

Vocalization

Scarlet Tanager: Song is a series of short phrases alternately high and low in pitch "querit, queer, query, querit, queer." Call is "chip-churr", with the first note higher in pitch.

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.

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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", "chip-churr"

● 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.
Scarlet Tanager Breeding Adult Body Illustration
● Range & 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.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationFairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight1 Ounces
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX