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

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.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone





Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
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.
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 (70)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
Seasons in Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in 126 of 133 counties and cities.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 653
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- PiratebushBuckleya distichophylla
- Bitternut HickoryCarya cordiformis
- Common Blue CohoshCaulophyllum thalictroides
- Glade SpurgeEuphorbia purpurea
- GalaxGalax urceolata
- Canada MayflowerMaianthemum canadense
- False Solomon's-sealMaianthemum racemosum
- BlackgumNyssa sylvatica
- Loblolly PinePinus taeda
- Smooth Solomon's-sealPolygonatum biflorum
- Chinquapin OakQuercus muehlenbergii
- Catawba RhododendronRhododendron catawbiense
- Sun-facing ConeflowerRudbeckia heliopsidis
- American BasswoodTilia americana
- Florida MapleAcer floridanum
- Mountain MapleAcer spicatum
- White MonkshoodAconitum reclinatum
- White SnakerootAgeratina altissima
- Downy ServiceberryAmelanchier arborea
- Wild SarsaparillaAralia nudicaulis
- Great Indian-plantainArnoglossum reniforme
- Summer SedgeCarex aestivalis
- Manhart's SedgeCarex manhartii
- Variable SedgeCarex polymorpha
Wildlife 196
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Virginia. Not sighting records.
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Tufted TitmouseBaeolophus bicolor
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
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)















































