Bird field guide > Bird identification [S-T] > Tanager, Scarlet bird pictures

Tanager, Scarlet bird pictures

SCARLET TANAGER
608. Piranga erythromelas. 7 1/2 inches

Male, scarlet and black; female, greenish yellow and blackish.

These beautiful birds are found in open woods, but they often come out in fields, parks, orchards, and sometimes in yards when feeding; one of the prettiest sights that I ever saw was of about a dozen of these birds tripping along the furrows of a ploughed field, where they were feeding on insects.

Besides berries and seeds, they live upon quantities of insects, frequently catching them on the wing in true Flycatcher style.

Song. - Resembling that of the Robin, but harsher, less
varied and higher pitched. Call, a sharp chip or "chip-churrr."

Nest. - Loosely made of twigs and rootlets, on lower branches of trees; eggs four, pale bluish green, spotted with brown (.95 x .65).

Range. - Breeds in the northern parts of the U.S. from the Atlantic to the Plains; winters in the Tropics, whence it arrives about May 15.