Bird

Summer Tanager

Piranga rubra

A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in 126 of 133 counties and cities, across 12 habitats.

Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: 126 of 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 12

Male Summer Tanager, whole bird — **Male**. no rights reserved. CC0. iNaturalist photo 653294587. Source-provided large resize; no crop or image edits.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: 126 of 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 12
Habitat models: Summer

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Virginia 12

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 12

SummerCumberland Sandstone Glade and BarrensBald Face above Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, North Carolina: a bare granite dome rising above forest and a still lake (photochrom print, about 1902). Shown: Bald Face (Big Bald Face) above Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, Jackson County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Bald Face from Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, N.C., Detroit Publishing Co. (photochrom print), c. 1902. Public domain. Source record.

SummerAppalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestHarvey Joiner, Woods Scene: tall beeches in a moist Kentucky woodland, light falling through a closed canopy onto a damp forest floor. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Kentucky beech woods (Harvey Joiner, Louisville painter of Kentucky beech forests; the painting does not name the site), a neighboring state.Woods Scene, Harvey Joiner, c. 1880-1920. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Cove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerDeveloped, Open SpaceLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Shown: Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr), a neighboring state.Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.

SummerRidge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerNortheastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

Summer

Shale barrens

Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.

Summer

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.

SummerDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Other habitats in its models (70)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.

In Virginia 1

Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer.

Elsewhere in the South (43)

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.
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.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer.
South Florida Pine Rockland 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.
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 (2)

Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens 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 (20)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory 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 - Loblolly Pine 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.

All habitats

Seasons in Virginia

Summer: nests here, in 126 of 133 counties and cities.

County or city

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Virginia, 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.