CreatureData

Scarlet tanager

Piranga olivacea (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a species in the family Cardinalidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 27.3 g to 29.3 g and live up to 10.1 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea)
Photo: Francesco Veronesi from Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the scarlet tanager

Weight
27.3 g – 29.3 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
10.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
11.9 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
13.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
4src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the scarlet tanager live?

Not recorded

What is the scarlet tanager?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a medium-sized American songbird in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). It was placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae) until 2009, but was moved to Cardinalidae following several genetic studies indicating the Piranga tanagers are more closely related to cardinals and their allies. 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.

From the Wikipedia article “Scarlet tanager” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scarlet_tanager&oldid=1380704172), 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.

What does the scarlet tanager sound like?

Jonathon Jongsma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the scarlet tanager endangered?

The scarlet tanager is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the scarlet tanager classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyCardinalidae
  6. genusPiranga
  7. SpeciesPiranga olivacea (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

Synonyms Piranga erythromelas, Tanagra olivacea

Other names and names in other languages (58)
  • Scarlet PirangaEnglish
  • تناجر قرمزيArabic
  • Червена пирангаBulgarian
  • Piranga alanegraCatalan
  • piranga šarlatováCzech
  • tangara šarlatováCzech
  • tanagr cochWelsh
  • SkarlagentangarDanish
  • ScharlachkardinalGerman
  • ScharlachtangareGerman
  • skarlata kardinaloEsperanto
  • Piranga alinegraSpanish
  • Piranga escarlataSpanish
  • Tangara EscarlataSpanish
  • Tángara escarlataSpanish
  • kirde-leektangaraEstonian
  • tulitangaraFinnish
  • Piranga écarlateFrench
  • tangara écarlateFrench
  • Tanagair scarlóideachIrish
  • Tangarach scarlóideachIrish
  • Tanajer jiargScottish Gaelic
  • להבית ססגוניתHebrew
  • crnokrila pirangaCroatian
  • skarláttangaraHungarian
  • SkarlatstániIcelandic
  • Piranga scarlattaItalian
  • Tangara scarlattaItalian
  • アカフウキンチョウJapanese
  • akafuukinchouJapanese
  • žalsvoji pirangaLithuanian
  • melnspārnu tanagraLatvian
  • Chʼoozhlaahalzhiin łichxíʼígííNavajo
  • RødtanagarNorwegian Bokmål
  • ZwartvleugeltangareDutch
  • Scharlakenrode tanagraDutch
  • rødpirangaNorwegian
  • Ishkode-bineshiinh (odaajinamaneshiinh)Ojibwa
  • Tanagra KòráPapiamento
  • Tanagre CòráPapiamento
  • piranga szkarłatnaPolish
  • piranga-escarlatePortuguese
  • Sanhaço-d'asa-pretaPortuguese
  • sanhaço-escarlatePortuguese
  • Sanhaçu-escarlatePortuguese
  • Чернокрылая пирангаRussian
  • Красно-чёрная пирангаRussian
  • DollatangaraNorthern Sami
  • piranga šarlátováSlovak
  • škrlatna pirangaSlovenian
  • Crvena tangaraSerbian
  • ScharlakanstangaraSwedish
  • scharlakanskardinalSwedish
  • Kara Kanatlı PirangaTurkish
  • піранга карміноваUkrainian
  • 猩紅比藍雀Chinese
  • 猩紅麗唐納雀Chinese
  • 猩红丽唐纳雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the scarlet tanager

Other species in the same genus Piranga.

CompareScarlet tanager vs Summer tanagerScarlet tanager vs Western tanagerScarlet tanager vs Flame-colored tanagerScarlet tanager vs Red tanager

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the scarlet tanager?

An adult scarlet tanager weighs 27.3 g – 29.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the scarlet tanager endangered?

The scarlet tanager is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the scarlet tanager live?

The scarlet tanager has a recorded lifespan of 10.1 years.

What kind of animal is the scarlet tanager?

The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) belongs to the family Cardinalidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/scarlet-tanager

MLA

“Scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/scarlet-tanager.

BibTeX
@misc{scarlet_tanager_2026,
  title = {Scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/scarlet-tanager},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}