Scarlet Tanager:
The rare bird, Scarlet Tanager, was recently spotted in the UK for the first time in 40 years.
- Scarlet Tanager is a strikingly beautiful songbird native to North America.
- Scientific Name: Piranga olivacea
- Breeds in deciduous and mixed deciduous-evergreen forests; winters in forests and forest edges.
- They migrate to tropical forests in Central and South America during winter.
- They are medium-sized songbirds with fairly stocky proportions. They average seven inches in length.
- They have thick, rounded bills suitable both for catching insects and eating fruit.
- The head is fairly large, and the tail is somewhat short and broad.
- In spring and summer, adult males are unmistakable, brilliant red with black wings and tails.
- Females and fall immatures are olive-yellow with darker olive wings and tails.
- After breeding, adult males molt to female-like plumage, but with black wings and tails.
- The Scarlet Tanager’s song is often described as sounding like a “robin with a cold.” The bird’s call, an emphatic “chip-burr,” is also distinctive and often can be a giveaway to the bird’s location in a leafy treetop.
- IUCN Red List: Least Concern
