American red squirrel
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus (Erxleben, 1777)
The American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is a species in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 186 g to 210.8 g and live up to 9.82 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the American red squirrel
- Weight
- 186 g – 210.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 9.82 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 12 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 37 days – 38 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 11.2 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.73src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the American red squirrel live?
Not recorded
What is the American red squirrel?
The American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is one of three species of tree squirrels currently classified in the genus Tamiasciurus, known as the pine squirrels (the others are the Douglas squirrel, T. douglasii, and the southwestern red squirrel, T. fremonti). The American red squirrel is variously known as the pine squirrel or piney squirrel, North American red squirrel, chickaree, boomer, or simply red squirrel. The squirrel is a small, 200–250 g (7.1–8.8 oz), diurnal mammal that defends a year-round exclusive territory. It feeds primarily on the seeds of conifer cones, and is widely distributed across much of the United States and Canada wherever conifers are common, except in the southwestern United States, where it is replaced by the formerly conspecific southwestern red squirrel, and along the Pacific coast of the United States, where its cousin the Douglas squirrel is found instead.
The squirrel has been expanding its range into hardwood forests.
From the Wikipedia article “American red squirrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_red_squirrel&oldid=1380451158), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the American red squirrel endangered?
The American red squirrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the American red squirrel classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familySciuridae
- genusTamiasciurus
- SpeciesTamiasciurus hudsonicus (Erxleben, 1777)
Synonyms Sciurus hudsonicus
Other names and names in other languages (40)
- ChickareeEnglish
- Downy squirrelEnglish
- Eastern red squirrelEnglish
- Hudson's Bay squirrelEnglish
- Hudsonian squirrelEnglish
- Mount Graham red squirrelEnglish
- Mountain weaselEnglish
- North American red squirrelEnglish
- Pine squirrelEnglish
- Piney squirrelEnglish
- Red squirrelEnglish
- Red squirrelEnglish
- سنجاب أحمر أمريكيArabic
- čikarí červenýCzech
- Amerikansk rødegernDanish
- Gemeines RothörnchenGerman
- RothörnchenGerman
- Αμερικανικός κόκκινος ΣκίουροςGreek
- Ardilla roja americanaSpanish
- punaoravaFinnish
- écureuil rouxFrench
- Écureuil roux américainFrench
- סנאי אדום אמריקניHebrew
- kanadai vörösmókusHungarian
- Scoiattolo rosso americanoItalian
- アメリカアカリスJapanese
- Amerikansk RødekornNorwegian Bokmål
- amerikarødekornNorwegian Bokmål
- Amerikaanse rode eekhoornDutch
- ajidamooOjibwa
- sosnowiórka czerwonaPolish
- Amerykańska wiewiórka czerwonaPolish
- Esquilo-vermelho americanoPortuguese
- Красная белкаRussian
- Dzoni:sgyö:nSeneca
- amerikansk röd ekorreSwedish
- กระรอกแดงอเมริกันThai
- Amerika Kızıl SincabıTurkish
- Білка червона американськаUkrainian
- 北美紅松鼠Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the American red squirrel
Other species in the same genus Tamiasciurus.
Douglas squirrel
Tamiasciurus douglasii
Mearns's squirrel
Tamiasciurus mearnsi
CompareAmerican red squirrel vs Douglas squirrelAmerican red squirrel vs Mearns's squirrelAmerican red squirrel vs Tamiasciurus douglas
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the American red squirrel?
An adult American red squirrel weighs 186 g – 210.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the American red squirrel endangered?
The American red squirrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the American red squirrel live?
The American red squirrel has a recorded lifespan of 9.82 years.
How long is the American red squirrel pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 37 days – 38 days.
What kind of animal is the American red squirrel?
The American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) belongs to the family Sciuridae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-red-squirrel
“American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-red-squirrel.
@misc{american_red_squirrel_2026,
title = {American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-red-squirrel},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}