Scarlet Tanager

Table

Scarlet Tanager – Accepted
1. 30 Oct 1929	HY	San Nicolas I. VEN	1984-195	10	MVZ 54485
2. 31 May 1958		Squaw Flat VEN	1986-213	14
3. 23 Aug 1964		Dana Point ORA	1986-108	14,26
4. 14–21 Oct 1967		Pt. Loma SD	1986-120	11
5. 04 Nov 1967	HY	Tijuana R. valley SD	1986-123	11
6. 29 Oct 1968	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1986-127	11	ph.
7. 07–17 Nov 1969	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1986-131	11
8. 23–29 May 1970		Scotty’s Castle INY	1986-132	11
9. 18 Oct 1970	HY	Bard IMP	1987-306	14	ph.
10. 11 Nov 1970	HY	Emigrant Ranger Station INY	1986-244	14	ph.
11. 26 Sep 1971	HY	Pt. Reyes MRN	1988-071	14
12. 24 May 1972		Palo Alto SCL	1972-066	1
13. 01 Jun 1973		San Nicolas I. VEN	1980-013	6
14. 01–03 Nov 1974	HY	San Nicolas I. VEN	1980-014	6
15. 05 Jun 1975		Morongo Valley SBE	1975-043	3
16. 29 Sep–02 Oct 1975	HY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1984-005	9	ph.
17. 26 Oct 1975		Kelso SBE	1987-053	14
18. 02 Nov 1975		Panamint Springs INY	1976-121	7
19. 04–08 Nov 1975	HY	Furnace Creek Ranch INY	1976-013	3
20. 20–24 Jun 1976		San Pedro LA	1980-145	6
21. 22 Oct 1976		Southeast Farallon I. SF	1989-007	14
22. 12 Nov 1976		Goleta SBA	1987-228	14
23. 27 Nov–13 Dec 1976	HY	San Luis Obispo SLO	1976-120	3
24. 21 Jun 1977	SY	Santa Catalina I. LA	1980-015	6
25. 14–19 Sep 1977		Goleta SBA	1977-103	4
26. 17–19 Oct 1977		Pt. Loma SD	1977-104	4
27. 20 Nov 1977		Zuma Canyon LA	1978-031	4
28. 07 Oct 1978		Oxnard VEN	1986-201	14
29. 26–28 May 1979		Pt. Loma SD	1980-156	6
30. 15 Oct 1979	AHY	Bolinas MRN	1979-078	5
31. 18–22 Jun 1980		Southeast Farallon I. SF	1988-032	14
32. 29–30 Jun 1980		Arcata HUM	1980-173	7
33. 22 Sep 1980	HY	Carpinteria SBA	1980-243	7
34. 24 Oct 1980		Pt. Loma SD	1989-103	14	ph.
35. 25 May 1981		Deep Springs INY	1981-029	7
36. 15 Jun 1981		Los Osos SLO	1986-277	12
37. 24 Oct 1981		Morongo Valley SBE	1986-228	14	ph., SBCM 53453
38. 06 Nov 1981	HY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1987-120	14	ph.
39. 07–08 Nov 1981	HY	Tijuana R. valley SD	1981-090	7
40. 08–11 Nov 1981		Pt. Fermin LA	1983-010	8
41. 17–18 Nov 1981		Goleta SBA	1982-004	7
42. 20 Jun 1982		Pt. Reyes MRN	1982-085	8
43. 15–17 Jul 1982	AHY	Hollywood LA	1989-058	13
44. 07 Nov 1982	HY	Malibu LA	1983-112	9	ph., LACM 100438
45. 15 Nov 1982		Tustin ORA	1983-017	10
46. 25 Nov 1982	HY	Huntington Beach ORA	1983-001	8
47. 29 May–02 Jun 1983		Pt. Loma SD	1983-054	8
48. 16–17 Oct 1983		Pt. Loma SD	1983-079	9
49. 29 Oct 1983		Pt. Loma SD	1983-125	9
50. 12 Oct 1984	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1984-223	11
51. 21 Oct 1984	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1984-244	10	ph.
52. 23 Oct 1984	AHY	Pt. Loma SD	1984-245	10
53. 11 Nov 1984		Morro Bay State Park SLO	1986-459	12
54. 06–07 Oct 1985	AHY	Santa Barbara SBA	1985-174	11
55. 27 Oct 1985	HY	Ventura VEN	1985-175	11
56. 13–16 Nov 1985	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1986-011	11
57. 05 Jun 1986		San Juan Capistrano ORA	1986-330	12
58. 14 Jun 1986		Lopez Lake SLO	1986-269	12
59. 03 Oct 1986	HY	Thousand Palms Oasis RIV	1986-449	12
60. 30 Oct–02 Nov 1986	HY	Palos Verdes Peninsula LA	1987-041	12
61. 07 May 1987		Coronado SD	1987-176	12
62. 09 Jun 1987		Fairhaven HUM	1987-219	12,14
63. 11–17 Oct 1987	AHY	Carmel R. mouth MTY	1987-259	13	ph.
64. 14–18 Oct 1987	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1987-291	13
65. 07–15 Nov 1987		Huntington Beach ORA	1987-385	13	ph.
66. 10–12 Nov 1987	HY	Goleta SBA	1987-384	13	ph.
67. 12 Nov 1987	HY	Goleta SBA	1987-386	13	ph., UCSB 20302
68. 15 Nov 1987		Ventura VEN	1988-047	13
69. 26 Nov 1987		Southeast Farallon I. SF	1988-016	13
70. 23–30 Oct 1988	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1988-226	13	one of two reported
71. 10 Nov 1989		Huntington Beach ORA	1990-041	15
72. 19 Jun 1990		Pt. Reyes MRN	1990-094	15
73. 14–16 Oct 1990	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1990-159	16
74. 19 Oct 1990	HY	Mojave KER	1990-202	16	ph.
75. 12 Nov 1990	HY	Costa Mesa ORA	1991-045	16
76. 30 Jun 1991	SY	Hayward ALA	1991-167	17	ph.
77. 11 Oct 1991	HY	Stovepipe Wells INY	1991-141	17	ph.
78. 20–26 Oct 1991		Pt. Loma SD	1991-172	17	ph.
79. 22–24 Oct 1991	HY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1992-016	17	Fig. 425, ph.
80. 03 Nov 1991	HY	Pt. Loma SD	1992-046	17
81. 15 Nov 1991	HY	Glendale LA	1992-018	17
82. 24 Oct 1992		Pt. Loma SD	1993-023	18
83. 27 Nov–07 Dec 1992	HY	Oceano SLO	1992-303	18
84. 09 Oct 1993		~ 35 nmi. s San Clemente I. LA	1994-043	22
85. 17 Oct 1993	HY	Granada Hills LA	1994-044	19
86. 21 Oct 1993		Tijuana R. valley SD	1993-158	19
87. 23 Oct 1993	HY	Pt. Reyes MRN	1993-178	19	ph., video, AB 48:150
88. 23–27 May 1994		Wilmington LA	1994-100	22
89. 13 Jul-09 Aug 1994	AHY	Coyote Creek, San Jose SCL	1994-122	20	ph.
90. 02–13 Nov 1994	HY	Morro Bay State Park SLO	1994-174	20
91. 06–15 Nov 1994		Palos Verdes Peninsula LA	1995-029	20	ph., FN 49:103
92. 17 Oct 1996	HY	San Clemente I. LA	1996-176	22
93. 25–26 Oct 1996		Wilmington LA	1997-027	23	ph.
94. 31 Oct 1997		Inyokern KER	1997-195	23
95. 01 Jun 1998		Pt. Reyes MRN	1998-096	24	ph.
96. 30 Sep 1998		Pt. Reyes MRN	1998-158	24
97. 01 Oct 1998		Galileo Hill KER	1998-183	24
98. 27 Oct 1998	HY	Chatsworth LA	1998-190	24	ph.
99. 31 Oct–01 Nov 1998	HY	Huntington Beach ORA	1999-113	24
100. 18 Oct 1999	HY	Galileo Hill KER	1999-187	25
101. 22–25 Oct 1999		El Capitan State Beach SBA	2005-008	30
102. 28 Nov 1999	HY	Pt. Reyes MRN	1999-206	25
103. 05 Oct 2000		Pt. Loma SD	2000-126	26
104. 26–29 Oct 2000	HY	Wilmington LA	2000-153	26
105. 11 May 2001		California City KER	2001-111	27
106. 30 May 2001		Montaña de Oro State Park SLO	2001-090	27
107. 27 Jun 2001		Live Oak SCZ	2001-141	27
108. 09 Oct 2001		Pt. Loma SD	2001-170	27
109. 13–18 Oct 2001		Seaside MTY	2001-156	27
110. 19 Oct 2001		La Jolla SD	2001-178	27
111. 22–28 Oct 2001		Pt. Loma SD	2001-181	27
112. 26 Oct 2001		San Clemente I. LA	2002-029	27
113. 27–28 Oct 2001		Pt. Loma SD	2001-183	27	Fig. 293
114. 29 Oct–10 Nov 2001		Pt. Loma SD	2001-200	27
115. 07 Nov 2001	HY	San Clemente I. LA	2002-028	28
116. 14–17 Nov 2001		Goleta SBA	2001-196	27	ph., NAB 56:107
117. 28 Nov–03 Dec 2001		Oceano SLO	2001-219	27
118. 07–11 Dec 2001		Santa Cruz SCZ	2002-027	28
119. 08 Aug 2002		San Nicolas I. VEN	2003-015	28
120. 24–27 Nov 2002	HY	Tustin ORA	2002-224	28
121. 24 May 2003	ASY	Montaña de Oro State Park SLO	2003-073	29
122. 03 Oct 2003		Newport Beach ORA	2003-008	29
123. 28 Oct–06 Nov 2003	HY	Big Sur R. mouth MTY	2003-147	29	ph.
124. 30–31 Oct 2003		Arroyo Grande SLO	2003-190	29
125. 02–15 Nov 2003		Pt. Loma SD	2003-154	29	ph.
126. 29 Nov 2003	HY	Westchester LA	2004-015	29
Scarlet Tanager – Not accepted, identification not established
30 May 1970	2	Saratoga Spring SBE	1986-359	14	date given as 31 May 1970 in AB 25:804
11 Sep 1980		Alpers Canyon MNO	1987-286	14
20 Oct 1980		Goleta SBA	1987-332	14
03 Jun 1981		vic. San Luis Obispo SLO	1986-277B	14
30 May 1983		Deep Springs INY	1983-044	9
10 Sep 1987		Bolinas MRN	1987-274	13
06 Nov 1989		Pt. Loma SD	1990-020	15
04 Jun 1991		Tilden Regional Park CC	1992-029	17
11 Nov 1991		Huntington Beach ORA	1992-005	17
24 Nov 1991		Oceano SLO	2004-029	30
18 May 1994		Twentynine Palms SBE	1995-027	20	ph.
24–26 Aug 1994		Pt. Loma SD	1995-028	20
17–19 Oct 1997		Wilmington LA	1997-169	23
10 Nov 1997		Furnace Creek Ranch INY	1998-060	24
17 Nov 1999		Saline Valley INY	2000-008	25
08 Jan 2000		Sacramento SAC	2000-078	26
21 Jun 2001		Southeast Farallon I. SF	2001-131	27
02 Aug–03 Sep 2002		Presidio, San Francisco SF	2002-202	29
Scarlet Tanager – Not submitted
? Oct 1959		Sespe Canyon VEN			Pyle and Small (1961)
01 Jun 1972		Southeast Farallon I. SF			AB 26:898
21 Oct 1979		Otay Mesa SD		14	AB 34:203
14 Sep 1982		Carpinteria SBA		14	Lehman (1994)
11 Oct 1986		Del Mar SD			AB 41:146
19 Oct 1986		Pt. Loma SD			AB 41:146
29 Sep 1987		Pt. Loma SD		14	Unitt (2004)
07 Nov 1987		Pt. Loma SD		14	AB 42:139
16 Oct 1988		Pt. Loma SD		14	AB 43:170
29 Oct 1988		Pt. Loma SD		14	AB 43:170, see table entry 70
30 Sep 1989		Deep Springs INY		14	AB 44:164
14–16 Oct 1990		Pt. Loma SD			AB 45:153
18 May 1994		Twentynine Palms SBE			FN 48:342, “photographed”
02 Nov 1997		Carpinteria SBA			FN 52:128
30 Nov 1997		San Diego SD			Unitt (2004)
24 Oct 1999		Irvine ORA			NAB 54:106
21 Oct 2000		Newport Beach ORA			NAB 55:105
13 May 2002		Tustin ORA			NAB 56:358
02 Nov 2003		Southeast Farallon I. SF			NAB 58:140

Figures

Figure 293. Pt. Loma in San Diego County has hosted numerous Scarlet Tanagers over the years, mostly in late fall. Very few have been adult males, but this 27 October 2001 sketch documents one such bird (2001-183; Susan E. Smith).

Figure 425. Two-thirds of California’s Scarlet Tanager records are from fall, especially late in the season. This first-fall male was banded and photographed on 24 October 1991 on Southeast Farallon Island (1992-016; David A. Sibley).

Figure 426. Distribution of 126 Scarlet Tanagers accepted through 2003, showing a concentration along the southern coast, especially at Pt. Loma in San Diego County. Excepting Pt. Reyes in Marin County and Southeast Farallon Island, relatively few have been found on the central coast. Two records from coastal Humboldt County furnish the only ones from the state’s northern third.

Figure 427. Seasonal occurrence of the Scarlet Tanager in California. Almost four-fifths of the records are from fall, primarily between 15 October and 15 November. Many passerines that breed in Canada and the Northeast (e.g., most Dendroica warblers) reach California primarily in autumn, but the Scarlet Tanager migrates later in the season than nearly all of them. See also Appendix H.

Scarlet Tanager

SCARLET TANAGER Piranga olivacea (Gmelin, 1789)

Accepted: 126 (87%)	Treated in Appendix H: yes
Not accepted: 19	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 19	Large color image: see figures

This tanager’s northern breeding limit extends from southern Manitoba east to New Brunswick. The southern limit stretches from eastern Oklahoma and northern Alabama to northern Georgia. The species migrates across the Caribbean Sea and along the southern Atlantic slope of Middle America to winter on the eastern slope of the Andes Mts. of South America, rarely in Panama. The species occurs casually across the Great Plains and the West, including numerous records from the Baja California Peninsula. Along the northern Pacific coast, single spring vagrants have been recorded in northern and southern Alaska, a late fall specimen comes from British Columbia, and Oregon claims one late fall and four spring records. Peripheral vagrant records come from Clipperton Atoll, Bermuda, the southern West Indies, Newfoundland, Iceland, and the British Isles.

California’s first Scarlet Tanager was a first-fall male found dead on 30 October 1929 (probably within “two or three weeks” of the bird’s expiration) on San Nicolas Island in Ventura County (Miller and Miller 1930). The species was not recorded again for 30 years, but since 1967 it has appeared every year except for 1995, with an average annual detection rate of 3.2 ± 2.6SD (range 0–14). The year 2001 was exceptional, with three spring and 11 fall records.

Coastal records account for nearly nine out of every ten (107 of 126) Scarlet Tanagers found in the state, the great majority of them from Santa Barbara County southward (Figure 426). Were it not for a pair of June records from coastal Humboldt County, the species would be unknown in the state’s northern third. This tanager is remarkably infrequent along the central coast (e.g., just three records for Monterey County), although modest numbers have been recorded farther north at Pt. Reyes and Bolinas in Marin County (eight) and at Southeast Farallon Island (six). By contrast, San Diego County claims 30 records, 25 of them from Pt. Loma.

Figure 427 illustrates the species’ seasonal patterns of occurrence. Fall vagrants account for about three out of every four records (96 of 126), with bracketing dates of 14 September and 13 December, and a peak from mid October to mid November. Spring records account for one-fifth of the records (26 of 126), with bracketing dates of 7 May and 30 June. Four records involve either summering birds or very early or late transients: Dana Point, Orange County, 23 August 1964 (identified by voice); Hollywood, Los Angeles County, 15–17 July 1982 (male); Coyote Creek, Santa Clara County, 13–31 July 1994 (male); and San Nicolas Island, Ventura County, 8 August 2002 (male).

After this book’s cutoff date, Scarlet Tanagers were documented in San Diego County on 2 January and 30 December 2004 (see Appendix H). These joined several other early “winter” records from the United States and Mexico, two of which served as the subjects of analytical papers: one refers to a first-year female present 28 December 1990–13 January 1991 at a feeder on James Island, South Carolina (McNair and Escobar 1993); the other involves a female present 4–9 January 2002 at a feeder in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, before striking a window and dying (Dickerman and Draper 2003). We are unaware of any well-documented record later than 18 January (female in Tennessee in 2004; NAB 58:237) that would support a conclusion that the Scarlet Tanager has successfully overwintered north of Panama.

[WHITE-COLLARED SEEDEATER Sporophila torqueola (Bonaparte, 1850) – see hypothetical section]

[EASTERN TOWHEE Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758) – see hypothetical section]

[CANYON TOWHEE Pipilo fuscus Swainson, 1827 – see hypothetical section]