Adult male scarlet tanager upperparts are brilliant scarlet, with black wings and tail. The underparts are scarlet. In late summer, males molt to a female-like plumage. During the molting process they are blotched with scarlet and yellow olive.
The female is yellow below and olive above, with olive-gray wings and tail.
The bill is smaller than that of the closely related summer tanager.
The song is robinlike but very burry: zerreet-zeerer-zerruu or queret-querer-queer-queret. The call is a distinctive CHIP-burr.
Key identifiers:
- Males robin-sized, red, with black wings and tail
- Females and young males are olive and yellow, with grayish wings and tail
- Nonbreeding males colored like females, but with black wings and tail
- Usually perch high in trees
- They're here for summer breeding; not in winter
- Listen for their songs and calls.
Similar species: An obsolete common name, "black-winged redbird," sums it up nicely: male scarlet tanagers can be confused with little else.
- Males of the closely related summer tanager are all red, larger overall, and have a larger bill. Female summer tanagers, like male summer tanagers, have wings that are only vaguely darker than the rest of their bodies.
- Western tanagers are rarely seen in Missouri; if in doubt, remember that male and female westerns both have wingbars.
- Male cardinals, though bright red, are slimmer than tanagers, have a thick, finch-like bill, a crest, and a black mask.
Length: 7 inches (tip of bill to tip of tail).
Statewide.
Habitat and Conservation
During summer, scarlet tanagers are usually seen foraging high in the canopy of oak-hickory forests and in large shade trees of the eastern United States and southern Canada. Breeding scarlet tanagers in Missouri are associated with oaks in upper slopes and ridges of mature forest.
Food
Forages on insects and berries in forests, woodlands, and parks where there are mature trees.
Status
Common transient (migrant); uncommon summer resident.
Populations remain stable throughout their range.
Taxonomy: Until fairly recently, tanagers in the genus Piranga were placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), a large family of tropical birds. But DNA testing showed that these "tanagers" in genus Piranga (including scarlet, summer, and western tanagers) belong in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae), even though they strongly resemble most other birds in the tanager family. As it does with people, DNA testing reveals true genetic relationships despite external looks.
Life Cycle
Scarlet tanagers are present in Missouri from mid-April to mid-October, with numbers peaking in mid-May and again in mid-September. They spend winters in northwestern South America, foraging alongside a host of exotic tropical birds in tall trees in mountain forests ranging from Panama south to Bolivia.
In summers in North America, they nest high in mature trees such as maples and oaks. A clutch comprises 3–5 eggs, which are incubated 12–14 days. After hatching, the young spend another 9–15 days in the nest. There is only 1 brood a year.
Human Connections
Both male and female scarlet tanagers are gorgeous! To find them, learn to recognize their songs and their "CHIP-burr" call. Then, in spring and summer, visit mature deciduous (not pine) forests and listen. Bring binoculars, and expect them to be high in trees. Look for movements of red: tanagers busily hop and flit about as they hunt insects.
Ecosystem Connections
Scarlet tanagers are sometimes parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds, which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, who unwittingly raise the interlopers, often at the expense of their own young's survival. Because cowbirds are grassland birds and don't live in the centers of large forests, it's important to conserve large unbroken tracts of forests as nesting places for tanagers and others.
Where to See Species
About 350 species of birds are likely to be seen in Missouri, though nearly 400 have been recorded within our borders. Most people know a bird when they see one — it has feathers, wings, and a bill. Birds are warm-blooded, and most species can fly. Many migrate hundreds or thousands of miles. Birds lay hard-shelled eggs (often in a nest), and the parents care for the young. Many communicate with songs and calls.