Bird
Summer Tanager
Piranga rubra
A summer resident that nests in North Carolina. Found in all 100 counties, across 10 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 10

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 10
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 10
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (80)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
In North Carolina 1
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer.
Elsewhere in the South (48)
- Appalachian Shale Barrens Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Summer.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer.
- South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
Northeast (8)
- Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest Summer.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
- Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer.
- Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer.
Midwest (4)
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer.
Land cover and other classes (19)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Summer: nests here, in all 100 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 53
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
Plants 217
- Chestnut OakQuercus montana
- Georgia OakQuercus georgiana
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsum
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Delicate Rabbit-tobaccoPseudognaphalium micradenium
Moist forests
Birds 41
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
Plants 337
- Mountain HollyIlex montana
- Rigid Whitetop AsterSymphyotrichum retroflexum
- Smooth Blue AsterSymphyotrichum laeve
- Coastal GoldenrodSolidago villosicarpa
- Appalachian SnakerootAgeratina roanensis
- Fewflower Tick-trefoilHylodesmum pauciflorum
- Bigleaf MagnoliaMagnolia macrophylla
- Umbrella MagnoliaMagnolia tripetala
- Pointedleaf Tick-trefoilHylodesmum glutinosum
- Smooth Carrion-flowerSmilax herbacea
- Huger's Carrion-flowerSmilax hugeri
- Early BluegrassPoa cuspidata
Tree plantations and managed pine
Birds 31
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Loggerhead ShrikeLanius ludovicianus
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Palm WarblerDendroica palmarum
Plants 2
- Loblolly PinePinus taeda
- Red PinePinus resinosa
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP summer habitat model for Summer Tanager
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
















































