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Scarlet Tanager
Piranga olivacea
Audubon Illustration
John James Audubon, Birds of America (1827-1838). Public domain.
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Last Spotted Near You
About the Scarlet Tanager
The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a medium-sized American songbird. 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 (Cardinalidae). The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family, although the Piranga species lacks the thick conical bill (well suited to seed and insect eating) that many cardinals possess. The species resides in thick deciduous woodlands and suburbs.
Source: Wikipedia
Classification
- Scientific name
- Piranga olivacea
- Family
- Cardinals and Allies
- Order
- Passeriformes
Similar species
Other members of the cardinals and allies family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.
- Black-faced Grosbeak Caryothraustes poliogaster
- Black-headed Grosbeak Pheucticus melanocephalus
- Blue Bunting Cyanocompsa parellina
- Blue Grosbeak Passerina caerulea
- Blue Seedeater Amaurospiza concolor
- Blue-black Grosbeak Cyanoloxia cyanoides
- Crimson-collared Grosbeak Periporphyrus celaeno
- Dickcissel Spiza americana
- Flame-colored Tanager Piranga bidentata
- Gray-throated Chat Granatellus sallaei
- Hepatic Tanager Piranga flava
- Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea
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