Scarlet Tanager - Ross Feldner

There’s no mistaking this brilliant red bird with black wings and tail but it can be hard to spot staying high in the forest canopy. Until recently the Scarlet Tanager was placed in the tanager family, but it and other members of its genus are now classified as belonging to the cardinal family. To make matters more confusing the female Scarlet Tanager has yellow-olive plumage.

They are often victims of nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds. If they spot one near their nest they will defend it vigorously but if they miss the intruder they end up incubating the cowbird’s egg. They apparently can’t tell the difference! The nest, which is built by the female, is a shallow cup of twigs, weeds, grass, lined with thin grass and small roots.

Scarlet Tanagers look for insects in tall trees, favoring oaks but will also forage on the ground and in low shrubs. Their diet is mostly insects including wasps, bees, moths, aphids, beetles and caterpillars.