Scarlet Tanager    Piranga olivacea

Conservation Status

General Status in Canada : Secure

COSEWIC Status : Not assessed

Breeding Bird Surveys indicate North American populations have changed little between 1966 and 2007 and numbers are thought to be relatively stable. As an interior forest nester, Scarlet Tanagers are thought to be sensitive to forest fragmentation and habitat loss. In some areas, mated pairs were only found in wooded areas greater than 3 ha in size. In smaller patches, tanagers suffer from higher rates of predation and greater brood parasitism from Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater). Although Scarlet Tanagers may attempt to nest in these smaller patches, successful breeding depends on the amount of fragmentation that has occurred, forest configuration, and degree of patch isolation. In some areas, occupied territorial stands were selectively logged during the nesting season and subsequently the adults were not detected that season or in the following year.

Reference(s)

Mowbray, T. B. 1999. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), The Birds of North America Online, . A. Poole, Ed. Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved from The Birds of North America Online database: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/479