Piranga olivacea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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. Scarlet tanagers feed mainly on insects, but they also eat fruit when it is available. Habitat fragmentation can increase nest predation and brood parasitism, and populations are declining in some areas. However, the species is classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The genus name Piranga is from Tupi Tijepiranga, the name for an unknown small bird, and the specific olivacea is from Neo-Latin olivaceus, "olive-green". Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 8 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Schönbrunn Zoo | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 4 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Scarlet Tanager sighting in Vancouver on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 102nd most-seen of the 252 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Scarlet Tanager in Vancouver on a given day, against under 5% in July to May, the lowest months. That is one of Vancouver's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain against 210 mm in November.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scarlet Tanager sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 26
Of the 26 cities where we can rate Scarlet Tanager sightings, Vancouver ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Bogota (Colombia, about 10%), New York City (United States, about 10%) and Philadelphia (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scarlet Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in Vancouver (22 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
