scarlet tanager

[ skahr-lit tan-uh-jer ]

noun

1. an American songbird, Piranga olivacea, the male of which is bright red with black wings and tail: recently classified as a member of the cardinal family rather than the tanager family, the scarlet tanager breeds across eastern North America and migrates to northwestern South America.

scarlet tanager

noun

1. an E North American tanager, Piranga olivacea, the male of which has a bright red head and body with black wings and tail

Word History and Origins

Origin of scarlet tanager¹

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

A pale colored bird as compared with the Scarlet Tanager of the east, lacking also the black wings of its eastern brother.

From Project Gutenberg

So fond was she of this delicacy that she once played a saucy trick upon a scarlet tanager.

From Project Gutenberg

The body of a flaxbird or scarlet tanager (Piranga rubra) was also hung up with the feathers for the same purpose.

From Project Gutenberg

They saw yellow warblers flicker away, a king-bird swoop, a scarlet tanager glisten in flight.

From Project Gutenberg

The trees about the place were many, and from one of them a scarlet tanager was shrilling out his inviting call.

From Project Gutenberg