Piranga olivacea
Status: Uncommon regular spring migrant east, rare east-central, rare casual west-central and west. Uncommon regular breeder east, rare north. Uncommon regular fall migrant east and east-central, rare casual west-central and west.
Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM11098, 20 Jun 1907 Lancaster Co.
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022).
Short (1961) and Ford (1959) raised the possibility that Scarlet Tanager might occur far enough west in the Niobrara River Valley to come into contact and hybridize with Western Tanager. Citing a hybrid specimen between the two species (Tordoff 1950, Mowbray 2020), and noting that an individual seen near Chadron, Dawes Co in late Jun 1955 may have been a hybrid, Short (1961) suggested that the Niobrara River Valley was the best possibility for such contact on the Great Plains. However, neither Short nor Ford could find either species between Chadron, Dawes Co and Valentine, Cherry Co; the three records of Western Tanager in northeastern Cherry Co since may all be of migrants: 16-17 May 2020, 19 May 2016, and 30 Aug 1978. There are no breeding season records of Scarlet Tanager on the Pine Ridge.
A Nebraska record of a putative hybrid with Summer Tanager (P. rubra) is discussed in the Summer Tanager x Scarlet Tanager (hybrid) species account.
First year males are sometimes more orange than red; this is within the range of normal variation and does not elevate such birds to the status of “variant” (Wright 2014); one such bird, reported as a variant, was Platte River SP, Cass Co 29 May 2016.
Spring: Apr 28, 29, 30 <<<>>> summer
Earlier dates are 14 Apr 2007 Sarpy Co, a male at a feeder 15 Apr 2002 Douglas Co, 18 Apr 1991 Douglas-Sarpy Cos, 18 Apr 2015 Lancaster Co, 20 Apr 1943 Jefferson Co, 22 Apr 2009 Fontenelle Forest, 26 Apr 2015 Cass Co, and 26 Apr 2015 Lancaster Co.
Arrival is in early May.
Rosche (1982) listed this species as a “casual spring transient” in the northwest, citing these records: 9 May 1977 Chadron, Dawes Co, 29 May 1976 Box Butte Reservoir, Dawes Co, and 31 May 1980 Sioux Co. Additional Panhandle records are of one in Deuel Co 17 May 2019, a male that hit a window in Scottsbluff, Scotts Buff Co 28 May 1982, recovered at a local veterinarian’s office overnight and released the next day (Cortelyou 1982), and 1 Jun 2019 Scotts Bluff Co.
Reports in the central away from the Niobrara Valley are migrants; the few records are 7 May 2006 Nance Co, 7 May 2023 Elsmere, Brown Co, 11 May 2022 Hall Co, 15 May 2021 Buffalo Co, 17 May 1987 Valentine NWR, Cherry Co, 21 May 2018 Victoria Springs SRA, Custer Co, 21-23 May 2020 Perkins Co, and 24 May 2019 Buffalo Co.
- High counts: 9 at Indian Cave SP, Nemaha and Richardson Cos 12 May 2004, 8 there 14 May 2006, 8 at Fontenelle Forest 15 May 2012, and 8 at Platte River SP, Cass Co 17 May 2018.
Summer: Scarlet Tanager breeds most commonly in deciduous forests in the Missouri River Valley, in lower numbers in the Niobrara River Valley west to western Brown and Keya Paha Cos, and in small numbers in the Platte River Valley west to Dodge Co.
Along the Niobrara River Valley breeding probably occurs west to the Niobrara Valley Preserve in western Brown Co, where Brogie and Mossman (1983) considered it uncommon and found a nest with young there 22 June 1982. There have been very few summer reports along the Niobrara River Valley west of Brown and Keya Paha Cos since Ford (1959) and Short (1961) found birds west to the Valentine area; however, reports may be increasing. A singing male, possibly a migrant, was at Fort Niobrara NWR 17 May 2015, singles were at the Valentine City Park 3 May 2016, east of Valentine in Cherry Co 19 Jul 1995, a singing male was east of Smith Falls SP in Cherry Co 20 Jun 2015, and another was in the same area 4 Jun 2018. Adult males were at Fort Falls, Niobrara NWR 16 Aug 2005 and 10 Jul 2021. Four males were along Fairfield Road, Brown Co 23 Jun 2022.
Early Jun reports from Thomas and Logan Cos in the Loup drainage are probably late spring migrants, although it reportedly nested at NNF Bessey, Thomas Co until 1958 (Bray 1994), and Mollhoff (2001) shows a “probable” breeding record along the Middle Loup River on the Custer and Valley Cos line. One in Greeley Co 9 Jun 2023 was likely a migrant.
Breeding apparently occurs in the Platte River Valley, although the current western extent is uncertain. There is an old nesting record for York Co prior to 1897, reported by Tout (Jorgensen 2012). In the western Platte River Valley, a nest was found with adults nearby in Lincoln Co 12 Jun 1938 (Tout 1947). Recent breeding reports, however, extend only to Dodge Co, where it summers regularly; one was singing in Nance Co 18 Jul 2013 and another was there 8 Sep 2012.
In the southeast away from Missouri River Valley counties, Mollhoff (2016) showed confirmed breeding in Seward Co during the period 2006-2011; one was at Oak Glen WMA, Seward Co 8 Jul 2021. There are additional breeding season reports from Seward Co 16 Jul 2008, and Butler Co reports 20 Jun 2013 and 3 Jul 2014, suggesting small numbers may breed in the oak woodlands associated with the upper Oak Creek drainage.
The only breeding record for Lancaster Co is a nest with eggs collected by N. E. Goss at Woodlawn 28 Jun 1889 (#95727 at University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute) (Mollhoff 2022). Since then, the only summer reports there are for 15 Jun 1970 (Cink 1971), 18 Jun 2000, and 1 Jul 1976; Cink (1971) had stated that “apparently there are no breeding records for Lancaster County.” In 2023 a singing male remained at Wilderness Park-Densmore Park area, Lincoln 2 Jun-6 Jul.
Farther south, west of the Missouri River counties, there are summer reports, perhaps of one-year-old straggling migrants or of occasional westerly breeding: 6 Jun 1966 Gage Co, 7 Jun 1963 Jefferson Co, 12 Jun 2001 Gage Co, 13 Jun 2017 Kearney, Buffalo Co, 15 Jun 1954 Gage Co, 15 Jun 1947 Adams Co, and 19 Jun 1975 Clay Co.
Reports in the west and west central are few during breeding season; an adult male was banded at Lake Ogallala, Keith Co 11 Jul 1992 (Brown et al 1996). A singing male “on territory” at Gilbert-Baker RA, Sioux Co 7-9 Jun 1991 (Korpi 1991) and one on 9 Jun 1981 Garden Co were presumably migrants.
- Breeding phenology:
Nest building: 27 May
Eggs: 16 May- 21 Jun (Mollhoff 2022)
Nestlings: 22 Jun
Fledglings: 12 Jun-7 Sep
Fall: summer <<<>>> Oct 4, 6, 7
Later dates are 9 Oct 2023 Douglas Co, and 20 Nov 2010 female Douglas Co.
Departure is in late Sep.
There are a number of reports mid-late Jul into Aug away from known breeding areas which are probably early migrants. Immature birds disperse from their natal site within weeks of fledging (Mowbray 2020) and fledglings have been reported in Nebraska as early as 12 Jun (see Breeding Phenology), which would allow time for dispersal from the breeding area. Reports that fit this schedule are 17 Jul 2012 western Custer Co, 18 Jul 2013 Nance Co, 18 Jul 2017 Madison Co, 23 Jul 2023 (2) Jefferson Co, 24 Jul 1997 Stanton Co, 26 Jul 2013 Seward Co, 28 Jul 2020 Thayer Co, 31 Jul 1976 Lancaster Co, 13 Aug 2015 Phelps Co, 17 Aug 2022 Nance Co, and 8 Sep 2021 Nance Co.
The only fall Panhandle reports are 16 Sep 2022 Scotts Bluff Co, 18 Sep 2021 Kimball Co, and 24 Sep 1994 Sheridan Co (Silcock and Rosche 1994).
- High counts: 5 at Fontenelle Forest 4 Sep 2004, and 3 in Dixon Co 2 Sep 2023.
Images
Abbreviations
NNF: Nebraska National Forest
NWR: National Wildlife Refuge
RA: Recreation Area
SP: State Park
SRA: State Recreation Area
UNSM: University of Nebraska State Museum
Literature Cited
Bray, T.E. 1994. Habitat utilization by birds in a man-made forest in the Nebraska Sandhills. M.S. thesis, University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Brogie, M.A., and M.J. Mossman. 1983. Spring and summer birds of the Niobrara Valley Preserve, Nebraska: An annotated checklist. NBR 51: 44-51.
Brown, C.R., M.B. Brown, P.A. Johnsgard, J. Kren, and W.C. Scharf. 1996. Birds of the Cedar Point Biological Station area, Keith and Garden Counties, Nebraska: Seasonal occurrence and breeding data. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences 23: 91-108.
Cink, C.L. 1971. Some interesting summer bird records for Lancaster County in 1970. NBR 39: 58-59.
Cortelyou, R.G. 1982. 1982 (Fifty-second) Spring Occurrence Report. NBR 50: 51-67.
Ford, N.L. 1959. Notes on summer birds of western Nebraska. NBR 27: 6-12.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Jorgensen, J.G. 2012. Birds of the Rainwater Basin, Nebraska. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Korpi, R.T. 1991. Spring 1991 Occurrence Report. NBR 59: 63-98.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2001. The Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas 1984-1989. Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Occasional Papers No. 7. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2016. The Second Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas. Bull. Univ. Nebraska State Museum Vol 29. University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2022. Nest records of Nebraska birds. Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Occasional Paper Number 9.
Mowbray, T.B. 2020. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.scatan.01.
Rosche, R.C. 1982. Birds of northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota, an annotated checklist. Cottonwood Press, Crawford, Nebraska, USA.
Short, L.L., Jr. 1961. Notes on bird distribution in the central Plains. NBR 29: 2-22.
Silcock, W.R., and R.C. Rosche. 1994. Fall Field Report, August-November 1994. NBR 62: 126-149.
Tordoff, H.B. 1950. A hybrid tanager from Minnesota. Wilson Bulletin 62: 3-4.
Tout, W. 1947. Lincoln County birds. Published by the author, North Platte, Nebraska, USA.
Wright, R. 2014. Birding New Jersey and the World; blog 15 May 2014.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2024. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 16 Jan 2024, map updated 15 Jun 2023