Scarlet Tanager
Piranga olivacea
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilyCardinalidae (Cardinàlids)
- GenusPiranga (Piranga Tanagers)
- SpeciesPiranga olivacea (Scarlet Tanager)
The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a medium-sized American songbird in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). Until 2009, it was placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), but it and other members of its genus have since been classified as belonging to the cardinal family . 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. The species breeds mainly in large deciduous forests in eastern North America. It migrates through Central America to spend the winter in forests along the Andean foothills of northwestern South America. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Riding Mountain National Park
Summer Tanager
Piranga rubra
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
American Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
Common Raven
Corvus corax
Black-capped Chickadee
Poecile atricapillus
Blue Jay
Cyanocitta cristata
Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Scarlet Tanager at Riding Mountain National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there