By Sawyer W
Today I would like to tell you about the bird whose scientific name is Piranga olivacea. Its common name is the Scarlet Tanager.
Scarlet Tanagers are about 6.3-6.7 inches in length, which makes them medium-sized songbirds. It is bigger than a Yellow Warbler and a little smaller than the Northern Cardinal. Males have bright red bodies, black wings and tails, and yellow beaks. Females have yellow bodies, darker wings and tails, and yellow beaks.
Female Scarlet Tanager ©Marieta Maolova / Macaulay Library
Breeding Scarlet Tanagers prefer deciduous (meaning leaves fall out and later regrow) and mixed deciduous-evergreen forest habitats.
These birds live in the eastern United States when breeding. Scarlet Tanagers migrate to warmer weather in the winter to South America and further South in eastern North America.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/maps-range
The females lay greenish brown eggs with brown spots. Nests typically contain three to five eggs. Scarlet Tanager’s nests are flimsy and made high in deciduous trees often 50 feet or more from the ground and made of loosely woven twigs and grasses.
http://freewp.cfsscloud.hk/idb/scarlet-tanager-piranga-olivacea/
Food for these birds includes moths, butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, spittlebugs, and more.
Check out the Scarlet Tanager’s song: https://media.audubon.org/nas_birdapi_file/SCATAN_2.songnum2_KYle_1.mp3?v=b.
P.S. First graders at Meadow Glen Elementary School learn about birds. My bird was the Scarlet Tanager. Here is the picture I drew!
Sources:
- http://freewp.cfsscloud.hk/idb/scarlet-tanager-piranga-olivacea/
- https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/scarlet-tanager
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/lifehistory
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/id
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/maps-range
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_tanager
- https://study.com/buy/academy/lesson/what-are-deciduous-trees-types-definition-examples.html?src=ppc_bing_nonbrand&rcntxt=aws&crt=&kwd=SEO-PPC-BUY&kwid=dat-2329040505886940:loc-190&agid=1235851302596746&mt=b&device=c&network=o&_campaign=SeoPPC&msclkid=2a08ea42e9bf1ba39a368cb7294f9a9d