The Status and Occurrence of Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) in British Columbia
by Rick Toochin
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Introduction
The Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) is an eastern species found breeding in old-growth deciduous forests in Canada from southeastern Manitoba through southern Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and southern Nova Scotia (Beadle and Rising 2006). In the United States,the Scarlet Tanager breeds along and east of the Mississippi flood plain to the Atlantic coast in the northern part of its range and in the south from eastern Oklahoma across to northwest South Carolina and western North Carolina (Beadle and Rising 2006). The Scarlet Tanagers migration route keeps this species in both spring and fall to the east of the Mississippi River in the United States but as far west as central Texas (Beadle and Rising 2006).
The Scarlet Tanager is considered a rare vagrant species in the western states of North America past eastern Colorado (Beadle and Rising 2006). The bulk of all western records come from California which has 126 accepted records (Hamilton et al. 2007). The majority of the accepted records, 96 out of the 126, come from the fall migration period which occurs from September through December with the majority of these fall records peaking in the last half of October (Hamilton et al. 2007). There are also a small number of records from mid-May through mid-June (Hamilton et al. 2007). In Oregon, there are 5 accepted records with one record occurring in the month of December (OFO 2012). Washington State doesn’t have any accepted records.
In British Columbia, there are 7 records for Scarlet Tanager with the pattern of vagrancy reflecting that of California with all but one record occurring in the fall and winter (Toochin et al. 2013, see Table 1). There are even 2 accepted records for Alaska that are both spring records with first being at Barrow June 25, 1934 (Roberson 1980, West 2008) and the second from Cordova on May 7, 1977 (Gibson 1977).
Though Scarlet Tanagers breed in the Maritimes they do not breed in Newfoundland where they are a rare annual vagrant each year (Beadle and Rising 2006). This species is a long distance migrant, with the entire population leaving North America and wintering in South America (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). The long migration every year means that Scarlet Tanagers are likely to be displaced by large weather events which could explain why they have turned up as fall vagrants in Iceland where there are 4 accepted records (Kolbeinsson and Gunnlaugur 2012) and in Europe where there are at least 8 accepted records all from the month of October (Lewington et al. 1992, Mullarney and Zetterstrom 2009). Scarlet Tanagers have also turned up as a vagrant in the fall on the Azores where there are 8 accepted records (Rodebrand 2012). As observer coverage and knowledge of migration timing increases in British Columbia, it is conceivable that more Scarlet Tanagers will be found in the Province in the future.
Table 1: British Columbia Records of Scarlet Tanager
1.(1) immature male November 17, 1926: Hamilton Laing (specimen: RBCM 13912) Comox (Laing 1932, Campbell et al. 2001)
2.(1) 1st fall male December 1, 1999: Golo Mauer: Cecil Green Park, UBC, Vancouver (Toochin 2012a)
3.(1) adult male July 30-August 1, 2005: Pam Dicer, and other observers: 321 Salal Road, Bowen Island (Cecile 2005, Toochin 2012a)
4.(1) fall male September 13, 2006: Jason Osterhold, Gordie Gadsden (photo) Island 22, Chilliwack (Toochin 2012c)
5.(1) adult male August 8, 2007: Gordie Gadsden: Cheam Lake, Chilliwack (Toochin 2012c)
6.(1) fall plumage male September 20, 2007: Rick Toochin: Jordan River (Toochin 2012b)
7.(1) 1st winter male December 16-23, 2012: Marion Corless, and other observers: (photo) Terra Ridge, Williams Lake (P. Ranson Pers. Comm.)
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