Editing Scarlet tanager

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Scarlet tanager in GWC (50867).jpg
| image_caption = Adult male
| image2 = Piranga olivacea Piranga alinegra Scarlet Tanager (15359865237).jpg
| image2_caption = Female
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Piranga olivacea'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22722466A94767758 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22722466A94767758.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Piranga
| species = olivacea
| authority = ([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1789)
| synonyms =
''Piranga erythromelas''
| range_map = Piranga olivacea map.svg
| range_map_caption =
{{leftlegend|#FF7F2A|Breeding}}
{{leftlegend|#FFDD55|Migration}}
{{leftlegend|#5F8DD3|Nonbreeding}}
Note: distribution on [[Hispaniola]] and [[Puerto Rico]] not shown
}}
{{inadequate lead|date=October 2023}}
[[File:ScarletTanager mosbo6.jpg|thumb|Adult female Scarlet Tanager, showcasing the yellow-olive plumage typical of the sex. Photographed in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]].]]
The '''scarlet tanager''' ('''''Piranga olivacea''''') is a medium-sized [[Americas|American]] [[songbird]]. Until recently, it was placed in the [[tanager]] [[family (biology)|family]] (Thraupidae), but it and other members of its genus are now classified as belonging to the cardinal family ([[Cardinalidae]]).<ref>Remsen, J. V., Jr., C.D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J.F. Pacheco, M.B. Robbins, T.S. Schulenberg, F.G. Stiles, D.F. Stotz, and K.J. Zimmer. (2009-04-02). [http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html A classification of the bird species of South America] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302073659/http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html |date=2009-03-02 }}. American Ornithologists' Union.</ref> The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family, although the ''Piranga'' species lacks the thick conical bill (well suited to seed and insect eating) that many cardinals possess. The species resides in thick deciduous woodlands and suburbs.

==Etymology==

The genus name ''Piranga'' is from [[Tupi language|Tupi]] ''Tijepiranga'', the name for an unknown small bird, and the specific ''olivacea'' is from [[Neo-Latin]] ''olivaceus'', "olive-green".<ref name =job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages =281, 308 }}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Piranga olivacea1.jpg|thumb|Male moulting to his duller feathers during autumn]]
The scarlet tanager, a mid-sized [[passerine]], is marginally the smallest of the four species of ''Piranga'' that breed north of the Mexican border. It can weigh from {{convert|23.5|to|38|g|oz|abbr=on}}, with an average of {{convert|25|g|oz|abbr=on}} during breeding and an average of {{convert|35|g|oz|abbr=on}} at the beginning of migration. Scarlet tanagers can range in length from {{convert|16|to|19|cm|in|abbr=on}} and from {{convert|25|to|30|cm|in|abbr=on}} in wingspan.<ref>7.del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D.A. (2011). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 16: Tanagers to New World Blackbirds''. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.</ref> Adults of both sexes have pale, horn-colored, fairly stout, and smooth-textured bills. Adult males are [[crimson|crimson-red]] with black wings and tail. The male's coloration is intense and deeply red, similar but deeper in shade than the males of two occasionally co-existing relatives, the [[northern cardinal]] and the [[summer tanager]], both which lack black wings. Females are yellowish on the underparts and olive on top, with yellow-olive-toned wings and tail. The adult male's winter plumage is similar to the female's, but the wings and tail remain darker. Young males briefly show a more complex, variegated plumage intermediate between adult males and females.

[[File:Scarlet tanager in GWC (25318).jpg|thumb|Female eating a [[flowering dogwood]] fruit in New York]]

The somewhat confusing [[specific name (zoology)|specific epithet]] ''olivacea'' ("the [[olive (color)|olive]]-colored one") was based on a female or immature specimen rather than ''erythromelas'' ("the red-and-black one"), which authors attempted to ascribe to the species throughout the 19th century (older scientific names always takes precedence, however).

Female, immature, and nonbreeding males may be distinguished from the same ages and sexes in summer tanagers, which are more brownish overall, and [[western tanager]]s, which always have bold white bars and more yellowish undersides than scarlet tanagers. The song of the scarlet tanager sounds somewhat like a hoarser version of the [[American robin]]'s and is only slightly dissimilar from the songs of the summer and western tanagers. The call of the scarlet tanager is an immediately distinctive ''chip-burr'' or ''chip-churr'', which is very different from the ''pit-i-tuck'' of the summer tanager and the softer, rolled ''pri-tic'' or ''prit-i-tic'' of western tanager.<ref name= Mowbray>Mowbray, Thomas B. (1999). ''Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)'', The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/479</ref>

==Behavior==
Their breeding habitat is large stretches of deciduous forest, especially with [[oak]]s, across eastern North America. They can occur, with varying degrees of success, in young successional woodlands and occasionally in extensive plantings of shade trees in suburban areas, parks, and cemeteries. For a viable breeding population, at least 10 to 12 [[hectare]]s of forest are required.<ref>Robbins, C.S., D.K. Dawson, and B.A. Dowell (1989). ''Habitat area requirements of breeding forest birds of the Middle Atlantic states''. Wildl. Monogr. 103.</ref><ref name= Roberts>Roberts, C. and C.J. Norment (1999). ''Effects of plot size and habitat characteristics on breeding success of Scarlet Tanagers''. Auk 116:73-82.</ref> In winter, Scarlet tanagers [[bird migration|migrate]] to the [[montane forest]] of the Andean foothills of northwestern South America, passing through Central America around April, and again around October.<ref name=Herrera/> They begin arriving in their breeding grounds in numbers by about May and already start to move south again in midsummer; by early October, they are all on their way south.<ref name = henninger1906/><ref name = OOS/> The bird is an extremely rare vagrant to [[Western Europe]][https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg571eygj97o].

[[File:Scarlet Tanager.ogg|thumb|Call of the scarlet tanager]]

Scarlet tanagers are often out of sight, foraging high in trees, sometimes flying out to catch insects in flight and then returning to the same general perch, in a hunting style known as "[[Hawking (birds)|sallying]]". Sometimes, however, they also capture their prey on the forest floor. They eat mainly insects, but opportunistically consume [[fruit]] when plentiful.  Any flying variety of insect can readily be taken when common, such as [[bee]]s, [[wasp]]s, [[hornet]]s, [[ant]]s, and [[Sawfly|sawflies]]; [[moth]]s and [[Butterfly|butterflies]]; [[beetle]]s; [[Fly|flies]]; [[cicada]]s, [[leafhopper]]s, [[spittlebug]]s, [[treehopper]]s, [[plant lice]], and [[scale insect]]s; [[termite]]s; [[grasshopper]]s and [[locust]]s; [[Dragonfly|dragonflies]]; and [[dobsonfly|dobsonflies]]. Scarlet tanagers also take [[snail]]s, [[earthworm]]s, and [[spider]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scarlet Tanager {{!}} Audubon Field Guide |url=https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/scarlet-tanager |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Audubon |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Scarlet Tanager |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/lifehistory |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=All about birds |language=en}}</ref> While [[summer tanager]]s are famous for this feeding method, when capturing bees, wasps, and hornets, scarlet tanagers also rake the prey against a branch  to remove their stingers before consumption.<ref>Grant, C. (1945). ''Drone bees selected by birds''. Condor, 261–263.</ref> Plant components of their diet include a wide variety of fruits that are eaten mainly when insect population are low: [[blackberries]] (''Rubus allegheniensis''), [[raspberries]] (''R. ideaus''), [[huckleberries]] (''Gaylussacia'' sp.), [[juneberries]] and [[serviceberries]] (''Amelanchier'' spp.), [[mulberries]] (''Morus rubra''), [[strawberries]] (''Fragaria virginiana''), and [[chokeberries]] (''Aronia melanocarpa'').<ref name=Forster/><ref>Mcatee, W.L. (1926). ''The relation of birds to woodlots in New York State''. Roosevelt Wildlife Bulletin no. 4.</ref>

===Breeding===
Male scarlet tanagers reach their breeding ground from mid-May to early June. Females generally arrive several days to a week later. Nest building and egg laying both occur usually in less than two weeks after the adults arrive. The clutch is usually four eggs, occasionally from three to five and exceptionally from one to six eggs may be laid. The eggs are a light blue color, often with a slight greenish or whitish tinge. Incubation lasts for 11 to 14 days. Hatching and fledging are both reached at different points in summer depending on how far north the tanagers are breeding, from June-early July in the southern parts of its breeding range to as late as August or even early September in the northernmost part of its range.<ref name= Mowbray/> The average weight at hatching is {{convert|3.97|g|oz|abbr=on}}, with the nestlings increasing their weight to {{convert|20|-|22|g|oz|abbr=on}} by 10 days, or 70% of the parent's weight. The young leave the nest by 9–12 days of age and fly capably by the time they are a few weeks old. If the nesting attempt is disturbed,  scarlet tanagers apparently are unable to attempt a second brood, as several other passerines can. In a study of 16 nests in [[Michigan]], 50%  were successful in producing one or more fledglings.<ref>Prescott, K.W. (1965). "The Scarlet Tanager (''Piranga olivacea'')." N.J. State Mus. Invest. no. 2.</ref> In western [[New York (state)|New York]], fledgling success increased from 22% in scattered patches of woods to as high as 64% in extensive, undisturbed hardwood forest.<ref name= Roberts/>

==Threats and status==
[[File:Scharlakanstangara fåglar, 1860-tal S-t Barthélemy - Livrustkammaren - 102593.tif|thumb|Stuffed scarlet tanager from 1860s, [[St. Barthélemy]]]]
Exposure and starvation can occasionally kill scarlet tanagers, especially when exceptionally cold or wet weather hits eastern North America. They often die from collisions with man-made objects including TV and radio towers, buildings and cars.<ref>Stevenson, H.M. and B.H. Anderson. (1994). ''The birdlife of Florida''. Univ. Press of Florida, Gainesville.</ref> Beyond failure due to [[brood parasitism]] of [[brown-headed cowbird]]s (''Molothrus ater''), predation is the primary direct cause of nesting failures. In one study, 69–78% of nests were preyed upon.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Brawn | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Robinson | first2 = S. K. | year = 1996 | title = Source-sink population dynamics may complicate the interpretation of long-term census data | journal = Ecology | volume = 77 | issue = 1| pages = 3–12 | doi=10.2307/2265649| jstor = 2265649 | bibcode = 1996Ecol...77....3B }}</ref> Recorded nest [[predation|predators]] are primarily avian like [[blue jay]]s (''Cyanocitta cristata''), [[common grackle]]s (''Quiscalus quiscula'') and [[American crow]]s (''Corvus brachyrhynchos''), although others such as [[squirrel]]s,  [[chipmunk]]s, [[raccoon]]s (''Procyon lotor''), domestic [[cat]]s (''Felis catus''), and [[snake]]s take a heavy toll. Raptorial birds hunt and kill many scarlet tanagers from fledgling throughout their adult lives, including all three [[North America]]n ''[[Accipiter]]'' species, [[Merlin (bird)|merlins]] (''Falco columbarius''), and [[owl]]s, including [[eastern screech owl]]s (''Megascops asio''), [[barred owl]]s (''Strix varia''), [[long-eared owl]]s (''Asio otus''), and [[short-eared owl]]s (''Asio flammeus'').<ref name= Mowbray/><ref>Hamerstrom Jr, F.N., & Hamerstrom, F. (1951). "Food of young raptors on the Edwin S. George Reserve." ''The Wilson Bulletin'' 16–25.</ref><ref>Meng, H. (1959). "Food habits of nesting Cooper's Hawks and Goshawks in New York and Pennsylvania." ''The Wilson Bulletin'' 169–174.</ref>

Scarlet tanagers birds do best in the forest interior, where they are less exposed to predators and brood parasitism by the [[brown-headed cowbird]]. Being a bird that evolved to breed in forest interior and not exposed to the brown cowbird prior to [[habitat fragmentation]], scarlet tanagers have not evolved any defensive strategies to cope with it. Where forest fragmentation occurs, which is quite widespread, the scarlet tanager suffers high rates of predation and brood parasitism in small forest plots and is often absent completely from plots less than a minimum size. Their nests are typically built on horizontal tree branches. Specifically, their numbers are declining in some areas due to habitat fragmentation, but the [[IUCN]] still classifies the scarlet tanager as being of [[least concern]].

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Forster>E.g. of [[Gumbo-limbo]] (''Bursera simaruba''). ''[[Trophis racemosa]]'' ([[Moraceae]]), and especially of ''[[Cymbopetalum mayanum]]'' ([[Annonaceae]]): {{cite journal|author= Foster, Mercedes S. |title=The potential of fruiting trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico|journal=Bird Conservation International|volume=17|pages=45–61|doi=10.1017/S0959270906000554|year=2007|issue=1 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2007BirCI..17...45F }}</ref>

<ref name = henninger1906>{{cite journal|author=Henninger, W.F. |year=1906|title= A preliminary list of the birds of Seneca County, Ohio|journal=[[Wilson Bulletin]]|volume=18|issue=2|pages= 47–60|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v018n02/p0047-p0060.pdf}}</ref>

<ref name=Herrera>Herrera, Néstor; Rivera, Roberto; Ibarra Portillo, Ricardo & Rodríoguez, Wilfredo (2006): Nuevos registros para la avifauna de El Salvador. ["New records for the avifauna of El Salvador"]. ''Boletín de la Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología'' '''16'''(2): 1–19. [Spanish with English abstract] [http://www.sao.org.co/publicaciones/boletinsao/01-Herrera.etal.RecordsSalvador.pdf PDF fulltext]</ref>

<ref name=OOS>Ohio Ornithological Society (2004): [http://www.ohiobirds.org/publications/OBRClist.pdf Annotated Ohio state checklist] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040718101517/http://www.ohiobirds.org/publications/OBRClist.pdf |date=2004-07-18 }}.</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Piranga olivacea|Scarlet tanager}}
{{Wikispecies|Piranga olivacea}}
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Scarlet_Tanager.html Scarlet tanager species account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i6080id.html Scarlet tanager - ''Piranga olivacea''] USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20001026115820/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/20109700.htm Scarlet tanager stamps]}} at bird-stamps.org
* {{InternetBirdCollection|scarlet-tanager-piranga-olivacea|Scarlet tanager}}
* {{VIREO|Scarlet+Tanager|Scarlet tanager}}
* {{IUCN_Map|22722466/94767758|Piranga olivacea}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1193366}}

[[Category:Piranga|scarlet tanager]]
[[Category:Birds of Canada]]
[[Category:Birds of Appalachia (United States)]]
[[Category:Native birds of the Eastern United States]]
[[Category:Native birds of the Northeastern United States]]
[[Category:Wintering birds of South America]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1789|scarlet tanager]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin|scarlet tanager]]