Summer tanager

Piranga rubra

The Summer tanager (Piranga rubra) is a bird found in United States, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico. Woods across the southern US; winters in Central and South America. It eats insects and other small invertebrates and fruit. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Piranga rubra
Region	North America
Found in	United States, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico

🏡 Where the Summer tanager lives

Woods across the southern US; winters in Central and South America.

🍽️ What it eats

🐛 Insects & bugs90%
🍎 Fruit10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 Males are entirely rose-red, and they catch bees in mid-air.

Hear the Summer tanager

Recorded by Manuel Grosselet (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1106117. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Summer tanager

Where does the Summer tanager live?

The Summer tanager lives in United States, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico. Woods across the southern US; winters in Central and South America.

What does the Summer tanager eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 90%), fruit (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Summer tanager endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.