The flame-colored tanager is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long. The nominate weighs 33.3 to 39.4 g (1.17 to 1.39 oz) and P. b. flammea 32 to 48.4 g (1.13 to 1.71 oz). The nominate male's head and underparts are red-orange becoming yellower towards the vent area. It has a brown patch below the eye from the bill to behind the eye. The mantle and back are dusky orange with an olive tint; the rump is paler with little or no streaking. The female has a similar pattern but its head and underparts are yellow and the back is olive with black streaks. The male P. b. flammea is a paler red-orange than the nominate. P. b. sanguinolenta is also similar to the nominate but the head and underparts are bright red to orange-red. P. b. citrea is paler and more orange below compared to the nominate.


The subspecies of flame-colored tanager are found thus:
P. b. bidentata, principally from western Mexico's Sonora and Chihuahua states south to Guerrero and east to near Mexico City. It occasionally reaches southern Arizona and less frequently western Texas.
P. b. flammea, Mexico's Nayarit state and Islas Marías
P. b. sanguinolenta, from eastern Mexico's Nuevo León and Tamaulipas states south through Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador into north central Nicaragua
P. b. citrea, Costa Rica and western Panama
The flame-colored tanager inhabits the canopy of humid montane forest and large trees in non-forested areas such as pastures, coffee plantations, and gardens. In much of its range it is also found in open oak and pine-oak woodlands. It is generally a bird of the mountains but can be found near sea level in Guatemala. In Mexico it ranges from 800 m (2,600 ft) to treeline and in Panama lives at 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and higher. On the Caribbean slope in Costa Rica it ranges from 1,850 to 2,850 m (6,070 to 9,350 ft) and on the Pacific slope can be found as low as 900 m (3,000 ft). It is largely resident but may seek lower elevations in winter. Those found in the United States are pre- and post-breeding wanderers and rarely nesters, with several sightings and one specimen collected in Texas.


The flame-colored tanager's diet is small arthropods and a variety of berries. It usually forages alone or in pairs, but will join mixed-species foraging flocks. Though it usually hunts through the tops of trees, it also sallies out for flying insects and sometimes descends to near the ground to glean fruit. It has been reported ambushing swarms of army ants (Eciton burchellii) carrying wasp larvae and pupae, and eating both ant and wasp. The predatory status of this bird has been documented to prey on certain types of arthropods found within the Sonoran canopy as it dives to catch insects and often those being carried by army ants.


The flame-colored tanager's nest is an open cup of fairly coarse material lined with fine grass; it can be placed in dense foliage or in isolated trees or shrubs in a more open area. Breeding has been documented in April and May.


The flame-colored tanager's song is similar to a vireo's, a "rich, musical ... 'chewee-very-vire, chewee-very-vire-very, cheery-cheweea ...'". Its call is "per-dick" or "chi-dick".


The IUCN has assessed the flame-colored tanager as being of Least Concern. The species occurs in several protected areas, and is "less sensitive to environmental disturbance than are many species."


The hepatic tanager (Piranga flava) is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of the genus Piranga are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.


The common name hepatic means "liver-coloured", namely, brownish-red. The specific name flāva is Latin for yellow or golden.
There are three subspecies groups, which may be separate species:
the hepatica group, breeding from Nicaragua north, in pine and pine-oak forests and partially migratory
the lutea group (sometimes known as the tooth-billed tanager), resident from Costa Rica to northern and western South America in highland forest edges
the flava group (sometimes known as the red tanager), resident in open woods elsewhere in South America


Members of the northern group are larger and stockier than other Piranga tanagers and have a relatively short tail and a stout bill. Its brightest color is always on its forehead and throat. In all plumages, it has gray flanks, dusky cheeks, and a dark eye streak. The female is yellow, and the male is red. Its average weight is 38 g (1.3 oz). Its average wingspan is 31.8 cm (12.5 in) and length is 20.3 cm (8.0 in).


It ranges from the southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, and locally in southern California and Colorado) to northern Argentina.


The habits of the hepatic tanager are similar to those of the western tanager.
Its call is a low, dry chup like the hermit thrush. Its song is clearer than Thraupidae tanagers and far more similar to the song of the black-headed grosbeak, another member of the Cardinalidae. The flight call is a husky and rising weet.
It looks for food in the foliage of trees, moving slowly and methodically; different individuals use different strategies. In summer, the northern form largely eats insects, spiders and some fruit. In Mexico, it has been observed to eat nectar. From Oaxaca south, it follows swarms of army ants.
Even the northern population's behavior and life history are remarkably little known.


The western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae),  other members of its genus and it  are classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.


The western tanager was illustrated and formally described by American ornithologist Alexander Wilson in 1811 under the binomial name Tanagra ludoviciana from a specimen collected on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1806). The type locality is Kamiah, Idaho. The specific epithet is from the Late Latin ludovicianus for "Louis". The name is from Louisiana, the 18th-century French administrative district of New France, rather than the modern state. The western tanager is now placed in the genus Piranga that was introduced by French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1808. The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognized.


Measurements:
Length: 6.3-7.5 in (16-19 cm)
Weight: 0.8-1.3 oz (24-36 g)
Wingspan: 11.5 in (29 cm)
Adults have pale, stout pointed bills, yellow underparts, and light wing bars. Adult males have a bright red face and a yellow nape, shoulder, and rump, with black upper back, wings, and tail; in non-breeding plumage, the head has no more than a reddish cast and the body has an olive tinge. Females have a yellow head and are olive on the back, with dark wings and tail.
The song of disconnected short phrases suggests an American robin's, but is hoarser and rather monotonous. The call is described as pit-er-ick.
Their breeding habitat is coniferous or mixed woods across western North America from the Mexico-U.S. border as far north as southern Alaska; thus, they are the northernmost-breeding tanager. They build a flimsy cup nest on a horizontal tree branch, usually in a conifer. They lay four bluish-green eggs with brown spots.
These birds migrate, wintering from central Mexico to Costa Rica. Some also winter in Southern California.


The breeding range of the western tanager includes forests along the western coast of North America from southeastern Alaska south to northern Baja California, Mexico. Western tanagers extend east to western Texas and north through central New Mexico, central Colorado, extreme northwest Nebraska, and areas of western South Dakota to southern Northwest Territories, Canada. The western tanager's wintering range stretches from central Costa Rica north through Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to southern Baja California Sur and extreme southeastern Sonora in western Mexico and to southern Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Western tanagers do not typically occur in the Caribbean lowlands. They have been reported wintering further north and have been observed as far south as Panama. Vagrants are rare to casual in the eastern United States.
In addition to the plant communities listed above, western tanagers are reported from disturbed habitats. For instance, western tanagers were seen in an area of northwestern California that had been logged less than five years previously. Cutleaf burnweed (Erechtites glomerata) was characteristic of the youngest age class, while slightly older sites were composed predominantly of tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus) with smaller amounts of snowbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus), whitebark raspberry (Rubus leucodermis), and Sierra gooseberry (Ribes roezlii). In addition, western tanagers were captured along the Rio Grande in New Mexico during spring and fall migration in an agricultural area composed primarily of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and corn (Zea mays).
Western tanagers have also been observed in saltcedar (Tamarix species) communities  and in Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) vegetation. In New Mexico, western tanagers were observed in nearly pure stands of saltcedar 10 to 23 ft (3–7 m) tall. Western tanagers were also observed in saltcedar communities during fall migration in along the Rio Grande. Ten western tanagers were observed among three sites composed of Russian olive in Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. All sites were dominated by Russian olive with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) comprising a substantial portion of the understory. Along the Rio Grande, western tanagers were most often captured during fall migration in vegetation with a Rio Grande cottonwood (Populus deltoides species wislizenii) overstory and a moderate to dense Russian olive understory.


Western tanagers migrate alone or in groups of up to 30 birds. On average, hatching-year western tanagers were captured later (early September) at Rio Grande Nature Center than adult western tanagers (mid-August) during fall migration. Migration timing, condition of birds, and site differences in spring and fall migration were also addressed in this investigation.


During the breeding season, western tanagers are found primarily in relatively open coniferous forests and mixed woodlands. During migration, western tanagers occur in more areas, including lowland woodlands of Southern California, desert oases, riparian areas, parks, and orchards. In the western tanager's wintering range, it occupies pine (Pinus spp.) and pine-oak (Quercus spp.) woodlands, as well as low-canopied scrub forests, forest edges, and coffee plantations.
Western tanagers breed at a wide range of elevations from about 183 ft (56 m) in the Northwest up to 10,000 ft (3,050 m). In the northern portion of their breeding range, western tanagers have been observed on sites over 8,300 ft (2,530 m) in Oregon down to sites as low as 183 ft (56 m) in Oregon's Central Willamette Valley. In the southern portion of their breeding range, western tanagers are more typical on high-elevation sites. They were observed on an Arizona site 8,270 ft (2,520 m) in elevation and on a site at 9,500 ft (2,900 m) in Nevada.


Western tanagers nest in second-growth and mature conifer and mixed forests. They only breed in stands of pole- to large-sized trees and stands of pole- to medium-sized trees with >70% canopy cover. Nesting was confined to older second-growth (>40 years) and mature (120+ years) Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) communities in the western Cascade Range in Oregon.
Western tanager nests are typically found in coniferous trees toward the end of horizontal branches and at heights greater than 10 ft (3 m); 79% of 43 western tanager nests in British Columbia were found in conifers, primarily Douglas fir. The deciduous trees most often used were quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and willows (Salix spp.). The position of their nests along the branches of deciduous trees was more variable than in conifers. On this site, 56% of nests were at heights from 21 to 36 ft (6.4–11 m). Of 9 western tanager nests in an Alberta study site, eight occurred in white spruce (Picea glauca) and one was found in quaking aspen. Nest height ranged from 20 to 42 ft (6.3–12.8 m), with a mean of about 30 ft (9.3 m). On average, nests were located 80% of the distance from the trunk to the tip of the branch. Of 49 western tanager nests found in a pinyon-juniper (Pinus-Juniperus spp.) woodland in northeastern New Mexico, 98% were in Colorado pinyon (P. edulis) and the remainder occurred in Douglas fir. On this site, nest trees averaged 24 ft (7.4 m) in height and over 8 in (21.9 cm) in diameter at breast height (dbh). The average height of nests was 18 ft (5.4 m). In a nearby mixed-conifer forest, nests were found in Douglas fir and ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa). Nest trees on this site averaged nearly 50 ft (15.1 m) in height and 13 in (32.7 cm) in dbh. The average nest height was 16 ft (4.93 m) and on average nests were located about 5 ft (1.49 m) from the tree stem and 3 ft (0.97 m) from the edge of the tree's foliage. Western tanager nests on a north-central New Mexico site occurred at heights from 8 to 15 ft (2–5 m), typically in white fir (Abies concolor) located in open areas. In Idaho, nests were found in conifers at an average height of 40 ft (12.3 m) and ranged from 8 to 55 ft (2.4–16.8 m). Of 58 nests at a Colorado study site, 54 occurred in ponderosa pine and four were found in Douglas fir. Nest height was significantly associated with tree height, with the mean nest height around 54% of tree height. On average, western tanager nests were located 63% of the distance between the trunk and the branch tip. This is closer to the bole than found in most studies, and the authors suggest that the conical shape of the ponderosa pine requires nests be placed closer in toward the trunk  to provide cover. Canopy cover at nest sites averaged 71%, with a minimum of 31% cover.


Western tanagers forage in many habitats, in all successional stages from grass-forb communities to stands of large trees with greater than 70% cover. In western Oregon, they were not observed using the grass and forb successional stages, but were observed foraging in areas not used for nesting, such as shrub/sapling and young second-growth (16–40 years old) stands typically made up of Douglas fir.
Although western tanagers forage in many habitats, they are typically observed foraging in forest canopies. For instance, in an area of California primarily dominated by giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), western tanagers spent 60% to 75% of their foraging time above 35 ft (10 m) and less than 2% of foraging time below 12 ft (4 m). In coniferous forests of western Montana, they were typically observed foraging in canopy foliage above 26 ft (8 m). In mixed conifer-oak forests in California, they foraged from 16 to 92 ft (5–28 m).
In primarily Douglas fir-dominated vegetation in British Columbia, the occurrence of western tanager foraging in various portions of trees and the size of those trees were investigated. This species perched on stems less than 1 in (<2.5 cm) in diameter in 96.9% of observations. Nearly 85% of observations were either near the branch tip or in the middle of the branch. Western tanagers foraged on larger trees, with nearly 80% of observations on trees with a trunk diameter of more than about 8 in (20.0 cm), and over 80% of observations occurring on trees 33 ft (10 m) or taller. They used taller trees and trees with larger diameters significantly more than their availability in all silvicultural treatments analyzed.
Western tanagers may preferentially forage on certain species. In a California study of foraging and habitat relationships of insect-gleaning birds in mixed conifer-oak forest, they used white fir more and incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) less than would be expected from their availability. Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), Douglas fir, and California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) were used slightly more than their availability, but this was not considered significant, since 95% confidence intervals overlapped with use in accordance with availability. Ponderosa pine was used in proportion to its availability. In mostly Douglas fir-dominated communities in British Columbia, western tanagers were observed foraging in Douglas fir in 88.9% of observations, ponderosa pine in 7.4% of observations, and in living trees of other species in 3.7% of observations. Over all sites, the preference for Douglas-fir was significantly (p<0.001) greater than availability. When sites were separated by the various silvicultural treatments, only the 3-year-old light cut (Douglas fir and ponderosa pine larger than 14 in  (35 cm) in dbh and other species larger than 6 in  (15 cm) dbh were harvested) and the selectively logged (20% of 6- to 8-in dbh (15.2–20.3 cm) trees, 25% of 8- to 12-in dbh (20.3–30.5 cm) trees, 45% of 12- to 24-inch dbh (30.5–61.0 cm) trees, and 75% of >24-inch dbh (>61.0 cm) trees were removed) sites showed significantly  greater use of Douglas fir by western tanagers than would be expected from availability. They were  reported foraging on quaking aspen, as well as balsam poplar (P. balsamifera ssp. balsamifera), speckled alder (Alnus rugosa), and white spruce in central Alberta.
Although western tanagers occur in stands of varying ages and have been observed in higher densities on young sites, they are typically detected more often in relatively mature stands. For example, they appear to occur more often in mature (50–60 years old) and old-growth (100+ years) quaking aspen than young (<23 years old) trembling aspen stands in the Prince Rupert Forest Region of British Columbia. In Alberta, western tanager was detected significantly (p<0.001) more often in old (120+ years old) quaking aspen mixed-wood stands than in mature (50–65 years old) or young (20–30 years old) mixed-wood stands. The same trend has been found in other communities. In Washington, western tanager was observed on sites dominated by older (35-year- and 60-year-old) red alder (A. rubra), but not on sites containing young (4-year- and 10-year-old sites) red alder. Although western tanagers were fairly common on recently harvested sites, they were detected at the most points in "mature" and "old-growth" ponderosa pine in northern Idaho and western Montana. Western tanagers had higher densities in mature (33 ft, >10 m tall) conifer plots and young conifer/mature conifer transition plots than in young (3–33 ft, 1–10 m tall) conifer plots in British Columbia. Western tanagers occurred at an average density of 53.2 birds/100 ha in sawtimber Douglas fir stands (>80–150 years old), 37.0/100 ha in mature Douglas fir stands (>100 years old), and 3.1/100 ha in sapling Douglas fir stands (<20 years old) in northern California. Although they occurred at higher densities in young Douglas fir forest in Oregon, the stands were 40 to 72 years old. Mature forest was from 80 to 120 years old, and old-growth forest was 200 to 525 years old.


Western tanagers appear to prefer large trees, which are considered an important component of stands for them. In addition, western tanagers were significantly  positively associated with large saw timber (>20% cover, >21 in [>53.2 cm] mean dbh) and significantly negatively associated with pole timber (>20% cover; conifers >10 ft [>3 m] tall and 4–12 inh (10.2–30.4 cm) mean dbh; hardwoods 10–50 ft (3–15 m) tall and 4–12 in mean dbh) stands dominated by Douglas fir, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and red alder in the central Oregon Coast Ranges. In primarily Douglas fir-dominated communities in British Columbia, western tanagers foraged in trees >33 ft (>10 m) tall in more than 80% of observations, and nearly 80% of  foraging observations were in trees with trunk diameters greater than 8 in  (>20.0 cm). In addition, western tanagers foraged in trees smaller than 33 ft (10 m) tall less than their availability.
Most evidence suggests that western tanagers prefer areas with moderate canopy cover. They avoid continuous canopy. Stands with large trees and 40 to 69% canopy cover are an optimal western tanager habitat. Large trees and canopy cover ≥70% is considered suitable habitat, while areas with large trees and <40% cover are categorized as marginal habitat. In sapling/pole and mature ponderosa pine habitats of the Black Hills in South Dakota, western tanagers occurred at the highest densities in stands with intermediate (40%-70%) canopy cover. In 35- to 45-year-old Douglas fir and red alder-dominated stands, an average of 322% more western tanagers were detected on sites logged to a density of 240 to 320 trees/ha, and an average of 363% more of them were detected on sites logged to a density of 180 to 220 trees/ha, compared to controls with 410 to 710 trees/ha. The difference in western tanager detections between the logging treatments and the control grew larger over time. In Arizona, western tanagers occurred at significantly  higher densities (15.8/40 ha) in forest dominated by Douglas fir and ponderosa pine the year after logging to an average of 167.7 trees/ha compared to control stands (7.7/40 ha) with average tree density of 626.2 trees/ha. Western tanager densities on the treatment and control sites were more similar the following year. In British Columbia, western tanagers occurred at significantly  higher densities after "light" logging on a site containing Douglas fir and ponderosa pine. The species apparently was positively influenced by thinning a ponderosa pine stand by 20% in Arizona. In the Sierra Nevada of California, western tanagers occurred at a higher density in an open-canopied (602 trees >10 cm dbh/ha) mixed-conifer stand consisting of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), lodgepole pine (P. contorta), white fir, and incense-cedar compared to a closed-canopied (994 trees >10 cm dbh/ha) mixed conifer stand of incense-cedar and white fir. This same pattern was found in open- (420 trees > 10 cm dbh/ha) and closed-canopied (658 trees > 10 cm dbh) California red fir (Abies magnifica var. magnifica) stands.
Western tanagers have been reported to prefer areas with a diverse forest structure, but importance of lower forest layers is unclear. In the Black Hills of South Dakota, they were significantly  more abundant in multistoried habitats with bur oak (Q. macrocarpa) and quaking aspen/paper birch (Betula papyrifera) under a ponderosa pine canopy than in sapling/pole or mature ponderosa pine stands with varying canopy cover. Reviews assert the importance of a diverse forest structure  and a dense deciduous understory  for western tanagers. In some areas, though, the influence of lower forest layers may be relatively insignificant. For example, removal of incense-cedar and white fir from 1 to 10 ft (0.3–3 m) tall in giant sequoia forests had little impact on western tanager density.
Western tanagers may associate with or avoid some plant species. For example, in mixed-wood forests in Alberta, western they were significantly  positively associated with conifer density. The western tanager was also considered a conifer-associated species in quaking aspen-dominated and mixed quaking aspen-conifer communities in British Columbia. Western tanagers' preference for multistoried habitats in the Black Hills may be related to the bur oak and quaking aspen/paper birch midstory. Western tanagers were not significantly  related with abundance of pineland dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium vaginatum ssp. cryptopodum) in ponderosa pine stands in central Colorado. The western tanager species was negatively associated with subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa) cover in northern Rocky Mountain conifer forests.


Western tanagers obtain their food by foliage gleaning and hawking. The degree to which each of these methods is used apparently varies across locations. For instance, in a California mixed conifer-oak forest consisting mainly of white fir, Douglas fir, incense-cedar, and California black oak, about 47% of western tanager foraging observations were gleaning, about 40% were hawking, and lunging and hovering occurred in about 6% and 7% of observations, respectively. In contrast, in the mainly Douglas fir-dominated communities of interior British Columbia, gleaning constituted 93.2% of western tanager foraging observations. Hawking only occurred in 3.7% of observations and hovering in 3.1%.
Western tanagers primarily glean from foliage. In the mixed conifer-oak woodland of California, 45% of their foraging observations were foliage gleaning. Western tanagers gleaned from twigs in 10% of observations and from branches in 5% of observations. Hawking constituted the remainder of western tanager foraging observations. In British Columbia, 88.3% of gleaning observations occurred on foliage, 10.5% on branches and twigs, and 1.2% on trunks.
Western tanagers eat fruits (~18%) and a wide range of insects (~82%). Fruits include hawthorn apples (Crataegus spp.), raspberries (Rubus spp.), mulberries (Morus spp.), elderberries (Sambucus spp.), serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.), and wild and cultivated cherries (Prunus spp.). They have been observed foraging on Perry's agave (Agave parryi) nectar. Reports of western tanager eating eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) nectar, Russian olive fruits, and human-provided food, including bird seed and dried fruit, were summarized. Western tanagers are major consumers of western spruce budworms (Choristoneura occidentalis), and they have been observed eating Douglas fir tussock moth larvae (Orgyia pseudotsugata). Hymenopterans, mostly wasps and ants, constituted 75% of insects in western tanager stomachs in August. The other insects were beetles (Coleoptera, 12%), mainly click beetles (Elateridae) and woodborers (Bupestridae), true bugs (Hemiptera, 8%), grasshoppers (Orthoptera, 4%), and caterpillars (Lepidoptera, 2%).


Several birds prey on western tanagers. Remains of a western tanager were found in a red-tailed hawk's (Buteo jamaicensis) nest in Colorado. In southwestern Idaho, western tanager remains were reported in one of over 170 prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) nests observed. Northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), Mexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis spp. lucida), sharp-shinned hawks (A. striatus) and Cooper's hawks (A. cooperii) are also western tanager predators. Accipiter hawks (Accipitrinae) and jays (Corvidae) are major predators of western tanagers. Domestic cats also preyed on western tanagers in British Columbia.
Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana), northern pygmy owls (Glaucidium gnoma), great horned owls (Bubo virginianus), and jays such as scrub jays (Aphelocoma species), pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), and Steller's jays (Cyanocitta stelleri) are typical avian predators of western tanager nests. Other reported nest predators include black bears (Ursus americanus), prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis), and bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer).
Western tanager nests are parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus aster). Parasitism rates can be high, and can dramatically reduce the number of western tanagers fledged per nest.


The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a medium-sized American songbird. Until recently, it was placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), but it and other members of its genus are now classified as belonging to the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family, although the Piranga species lacks the thick conical bill (well suited to seed and insect eating) that many cardinals possess. The species resides in thick deciduous woodlands and suburbs.


The scarlet tanager, a mid-sized passerine, is marginally the smallest of the four species of Piranga that breed north of the Mexican border. It can weigh from 23.5 to 38 g (0.83 to 1.34 oz), with an average of 25 g (0.88 oz) during breeding and an average of 35 g (1.2 oz) at the beginning of migration. Scarlet tanagers can range in length from 16 to 19 cm (6.3 to 7.5 in) and from 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) in wingspan. Adults of both sexes have pale, horn-colored, fairly stout, and smooth-textured bills. Adult males are crimson-red with black wings and tail. The male's coloration is intense and deeply red, similar but deeper in shade than the males of two occasionally co-existing relatives, the northern cardinal and the summer tanager, both which lack black wings. Females are yellowish on the underparts and olive on top, with yellow-olive-toned wings and tail. The adult male's winter plumage is similar to the female's, but the wings and tail remain darker. Young males briefly show a more complex, variegated plumage intermediate between adult males and females.
The somewhat confusing specific epithet olivacea ("the olive-colored one") was based on a female or immature specimen rather than erythromelas ("the red-and-black one"), which authors attempted to ascribe to the species throughout the 19th century (older scientific names always takes precedence, however).
Female, immature, and nonbreeding males may be distinguished from the same ages and sexes in summer tanagers, which are more brownish overall, and western tanagers, which always have bold white bars and more yellowish undersides than scarlet tanagers. The song of the scarlet tanager sounds somewhat like a hoarser version of the American robin's and is only slightly dissimilar from the songs of the summer and western tanagers. The call of the scarlet tanager is an immediately distinctive chip-burr or chip-churr, which is very different from the pit-i-tuck of the summer tanager and the softer, rolled pri-tic or prit-i-tic of western tanager.


Their breeding habitat is large stretches of deciduous forest, especially with oaks, across eastern North America. They can occur, with varying degrees of success, in young successional woodlands and occasionally in extensive plantings of shade trees in suburban areas, parks, and cemeteries. For a viable breeding population, at least 10 to 12 hectares of forest are required. In winter, scarlet tanagers occur in the montane forest of the Andean foothills. Scarlet tanagers migrate to northwestern South America, passing through Central America around April, and again around October. They begin arriving in the breeding grounds in numbers by about May and already start to move south again in midsummer; by early October, they are all on their way south. The bird is an extremely rare vagrant to Western Europe.
Scarlet tanagers are often out of sight, foraging high in trees, sometimes flying out to catch insects in flight and then returning to the same general perch, in a hunting style known as "sallying". Sometimes, however, they also capture their prey on the forest floor. They eat mainly insects, but opportunistically consume fruit when plentiful.  Any flying variety of insect can readily be taken when common, such as bees, wasps, hornets, ants, and sawflies; moths and butterflies; beetles; flies; cicadas, leafhoppers, spittlebugs, treehoppers, plant lice, and scale insects; termites; grasshoppers and locusts; dragonflies; and dobsonflies. Scarlet tanagers also take snails, earthworms, and spiders. While summer tanagers are famous for this feeding method, when capturing bees, wasps, and hornets, scarlet tanagers also rake the prey against a branch  to remove their stingers before consumption. Plant components of their diet include a wide variety of fruits that are eaten mainly when insect population are low: blackberries (Rubus allegheniensis), raspberries (R. ideaus), huckleberries (Gaylussacia sp.), juneberries and serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.), mulberries (Morus rubra), strawberries (Fragaria virginiana), and chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa).


Male scarlet tanagers reach their breeding ground from mid-May to early June. Females generally arrive several days to a week later. Nest building and egg laying both occur usually in less than two weeks after the adults arrive. The clutch is usually four eggs, occasionally from three to five and exceptionally from one to six eggs may be laid. The eggs are a light blue color, often with a slight greenish or whitish tinge. Incubation lasts for 11 to 14 days. Hatching and fledging are both reached at different points in summer depending on how far north the tanagers are breeding, from June-early July in the southern parts of its breeding range to as late as August or even early September in the northernmost part of its range. The average weight at hatching is 3.97 g (0.140 oz), with the nestlings increasing their weight to 20–22 g (0.71–0.78 oz) by 10 days, or 70% of the parent's weight. The young leave the nest by 9–12 days of age and fly capably by the time they are a few weeks old. If the nesting attempt is disturbed,  scarlet tanagers apparently are unable to attempt a second brood, as several other passerines can. In a study of 16 nests in Michigan, 50%  were successful in producing one or more fledglings. In western New York, fledgling success increased from 22% in scattered patches of woods to as high as 64% in extensive, undisturbed hardwood forest.


Exposure and starvation can occasionally kill scarlet tanagers, especially when exceptionally cold or wet weather hits eastern North America. They often die from collisions with man-made objects including TV and radio towers, buildings and cars. Beyond failure due to brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) (see below), predation is the primary direct cause of nesting failures. In one study, 69–78% of nests were preyed upon. Recorded nest predators are primarily avian like blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata), common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) and American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), although others such as squirrels,  chipmunks, raccoons (Procyon lotor), and snakes probably take a heavy toll, as well as an occasional unlucky fledgling taken by domestic cats (Felis catus). Raptorial birds hunt and kill many scarlet tanagers from fledgling throughout their adult lives, including all three North American Accipiter species, merlins (Falco columbarius), eastern screech owls (Megascops asio), barred owls (Strix varia), long-eared owls (Asio otus), and short-eared owls (Asio flammeus).
These birds do best in the forest interior, where they are less exposed to predators and brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird. The cowbird lays its eggs in most any other passerine's nest and the young often outcompete the young of the host bird and may cause failure and starvation. Some birds have evolved strategies to deal with cowbird parasitism, but the scarlet tanager, being a bird that evolved to breed in forest interior and not previously exposed to this, are helpless victims to brood parasitism. Where forest fragmentation occurs, which is quite widespread, the scarlet tanager suffers high rates of predation and brood parasitism in small forest plots and is often absent completely from plots less than a minimum size. Their nests are typically built on horizontal tree branches. Specifically, their numbers are declining in some areas due to habitat fragmentation, but on a global scale, tanagers are a plentiful species. Thus, the IUCN classifies the scarlet tanager as being of least concern.


The summer tanager (Piranga rubra) is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.


The summer tanager was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla rubra. Linnaeus based his description on the "summer red-bird" described and illustrated by Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published in 1729–1732. Catesby gave the location as Carolina, Linnaeus specified America; the type location is now South Carolina. The summer tanager is the type species of the genus Piranga that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1808. The genus name Piranga is from Tupi Tijepiranga, the name for an unknown small bird; the specific rubra is from Latin ruber meaning "red".
Two subspecies are recognised:
P. r. cooperi Ridgway, 1869 – breeds in southwest USA and north Mexico, winters in south Mexico
P. r. rubra (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeds in east USA, winters in north South America


Adults have stout pointed bills and measure 17 cm (6.7 in) in length and 29 g (1.0 oz) in weight. Wingspan ranges from 28 to 30 cm. Adult males are rose red and similar in appearance to the hepatic tanager, although the latter has a dark bill; females are orangish on the underparts and olive on top, with olive-brown wings and tail. As with all other birds, all red and orange colorations are acquired through their diet.
The summer tanager has an American robin-like song, similar enough that novices sometimes mistake this bird for that species. The song consists of melodic units, repeated in a constant stream. The summer tanager's song, however, is much more monotonous than that of T. migratorius, often consisting of as few as three or four distinct units. It is clearer and less nasal than the song of the scarlet tanager. The summer tanager also has a sharp, agitated-sounded call pi-tuk or pik-i-tuk-i-tuk.


Pistacia chinensis, the Chinese pistache (Chinese: 黄連木; pinyin: huángliánmù), is a small to medium-sized tree in the genus Pistacia in the cashew family Anacardiaceae, native to central and western China. This species is planted as a street tree in temperate areas worldwide due to its attractive fruit and autumn foliage.


It is hardy, can withstand harsh conditions and poor quality soils, and grows up to 20 m (66 ft). The leaves are deciduous, alternate, pinnate, 20–25 cm long, with 10 or 12 leaflets, the terminal leaflet usually absent. The flowers are produced in panicles 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) long at the ends of the branches; it is dioecious, with separate male and female plants.
The fruit is a small red drupe, turning blue when ripe, containing a single seed.


Synonyms include: Pistacia formosana Matsumura; P. philippinensis Merrill & Rolfe; Rhus argyi H. Léveillé; R. gummifera H. Léveillé.
Some botanists merge Pistacia integerrima into this species as the subspecies P. chinensis ssp. integerrima, with the plants considered here then becoming the subspecies P. chinensis ssp. chinensis.


Its native range is on hill and mountain forests on rocky soils at 100–3,600 m (330–11,810 ft) above sea level. It is found in Mainland China (excluding the far north and the far west) and Taiwan.


Chinese pistache grows best in full sun, being intolerant of shade; it is the most frost-tolerant species of Pistacia, tolerating temperatures down to about -25 °C, yet it is most highly regarded in warm climates. It is planted for its impressive fall colors, which develop at least as far south as Orlando, Florida. In the low-elevation deserts of Arizona, it is the only tree whose leaves turn scarlet in fall.


It is a popular choice for street trees in urban settings because it is very drought tolerant and can survive harsh environments. It is also used as an understock for Pistacia vera. In China, the oil from the seeds is used for biodiesel production. The wood is used for production of furniture, and yields a yellow dye.
It is also used in classical Chinese garden design.


The plant is evergreen, from 1 to 5 m high, with a strong smell of resin, growing in dry and rocky areas in North Africa and Mediterranean Europe. It resists mild to heavy frosts but prefers milder winters and grows on all types of soils, and can grow well in limestone areas and even in salty or saline environments, making it more abundant near the sea. It is also found in woodlands, dehesas (almost deforested pasture areas), Kermes oak woods, wooded areas dominated by other oaks, garrigues, maquis shrublands, hills, gorges, canyons, and rocky hillsides of the entire Mediterranean area. It is a typical species of Mediterranean mixed communities which include myrtle, Kermes oak, Mediterranean dwarf palm, buckthorn and sarsaparilla, and serves as protection and food for birds and other fauna in this ecosystem. It is a very hardy pioneer species dispersed by birds. When older, it develops some large trunks and numerous thicker and longer branches. In appropriate areas, when allowed to grow freely and age, it often becomes a tree of up to 7 m. However, logging, grazing, and fires often prevent its development.
The leaves are alternate, leathery, and compound paripinnate (no terminal leaflet) with five or six pairs of deep-green leaflets. It presents very small flowers, the male with five stamens, the female with a 3-part style. The fruit is a drupe, first red and then black when ripe, about 4 mm in diameter. The fruit, although not commonly consumed, is edible and has a tart raisin-like flavour.
Pistacia lentiscus is related to Pistacia terebinthus, with which it hybridizes frequently in contact zones. Pistacia terebinthus is more abundant in the mountains and inland and the mastic is usually found more frequently in areas where the Mediterranean influence of the sea moderates the climate. The mastic tree does not reach the size of the Pistacia terebinthus, but the hybrids are very difficult to distinguish. The mastic has winged stalks to its leaflets, i.e., the stalks are flattened and with side fins, whereas these stems in Pistacia terebinthus are simple. On the west coast of the Mediterranean, Canary Islands and Middle East, it can be confused with P. atlantica.


Pistacia lentiscus is native throughout the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and the Iberian peninsula in the west through southern France and Turkey to Iraq and Iran in the east.  It is also native to the Canary Islands.


In urban areas near the sea, where "palmitos" or Mediterranean dwarf palms grow, and other exotic plants, it is often used in gardens and resorts, because of its strength and attractive appearance. Unlike other species of Pistacia, it retains its leaves throughout the year. It has been introduced as an ornamental shrub in Mexico, where it has naturalized and is often seen primarily in suburban and semiarid areas where the summer rainfall climate, contrary to the Mediterranean, does not affect it.


The aromatic, ivory-coloured resin, also known as mastic, is harvested as a spice from the cultivated mastic trees grown in the south of the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea, where it is also known by the name "Chios tears". Originally liquid, it is hardened, when the weather turns cold, into drops or patties of hard, brittle, translucent resin. When chewed, the resin softens and becomes a bright white and opaque gum.
The word mastic derives from the Latin word "Masticare" (to chew), in Greek: μαστιχάω verb mastichein ("to gnash the teeth", the English word completely from the Latin masticate) or massein ("to chew").
Within the European Union, mastic production in Chios is granted protected designation of origin and protected geographical indication names. Although the tree is native to all of the Mediterranean region, it will release its resin only on selected places, most notably, around Cesme, Turkey and in the southern portion of the Greek island of Chios, the latter being the only place in the world where it is cultivated regularly. The island's mastic production is controlled by a co-operative of "medieval" villages, collectively known as the 'mastichochoria' (Μαστιχοχώρια, lit. "mastic villages").


The resin is collected by bleeding the trees from small cuts made in the bark of the main branches, and allowing the sap to drip onto the specially prepared ground below. The harvesting is done during the summer between June and September. After the mastic is collected, it is washed manually and is set aside to dry, away from the sun, as it will start melting again.

Mastic resin is a relatively expensive kind of spice; it has been used principally as a chewing gum for at least 2,400 years. The flavour can be described as a strong, slightly smoky, resiny aroma and can be an acquired taste.
Some scholars identify the bakha בכא mentioned in the Bible—as in the Valley of Baca (Hebrew: עמק הבכא) of Psalm 84—with the mastic plant. The word bakha appears to be derived from the Hebrew word for crying or weeping, and is thought to refer to the "tears" of resin secreted by the mastic plant, along with a sad weeping noise which occurs when the plant is walked on and branches are broken. The Valley of Baca is thought to be a valley near Jerusalem that was covered with low mastic shrubbery, much like some hillsides in northern Israel today. In an additional biblical reference, King David receives divine counsel to place himself opposite the Philistines coming up the Valley of Rephaim, southwest of Jerusalem, such that the "sound of walking on the tops of the bakha shrubs" (קול צעדה בראשי הבכאים) signals the moment to attack (II Samuel V: 22–24).
Mastic is known to have been popular in Roman times when children chewed it, and in medieval times, it was highly prized for the Sultan's harem both as a breath freshener and for cosmetics.  It was the Sultan's privilege to chew mastic, and it was considered to have healing properties.  The spice's use was widened when Chios became part of the Ottoman Empire, and it remains popular in North Africa and the Near East. There is an unflattering reference to mastic-chewing in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida (published 1609) when Agamemnon dismisses the views of the cynic and satirist Thersites as graceless productions of "his mastic jaws".


Mastic gum is principally used either as a flavouring or for its gum properties, as in mastic chewing gum.
As a spice, it continues to be used in Greece to flavour spirits and liqueurs (such as Chios's native drink Mastiha), chewing gum, and a number of cakes, pastries, spoon sweets, and desserts. Sometimes it is even used in making cheese. Mastic resin is a key ingredient in dondurma and Turkish puddings, giving those confections their unusual texture and bright whiteness. In Lebanon and Egypt, the spice is used to flavour many dishes, ranging from soups to meats to desserts, while in Morocco, smoke from the resin is used to flavour water. In Turkey, mastic is used as a flavor of Turkish delight.  Recently, a mastic-flavoured fizzy drink has also been launched, called "Mast".
Mastic resin is a key ingredient in Greek festival breads, for example, the sweet bread tsoureki and the traditional New Year's vasilopita. Furthermore, mastic is also essential to myron, the holy oil used for chrismation by the Orthodox Churches.
As well as its culinary uses, mastic continues to be used for its gum and medicinal properties. Jordanian chewing gum manufacturer, Sharawi Bros. use the mastic of this shrub as a primary ingredient in their mastic-flavoured products and they distribute the gum to many deli stores worldwide. The resin is used as a primary ingredient in the production of cosmetics such as toothpaste, lotions for the hair and skin, and perfumes.


People in the Mediterranean region have used mastic as a medicine for gastrointestinal ailments for several thousand years. The first-century Greek physician and botanist, Dioscorides, wrote about the medicinal properties of mastic in his classic treatise De Materia Medica ("About Medical Substances"). Some centuries later, Markellos Empeirikos and Pavlos Eginitis also noticed the effect of mastic on the digestive system.
Mastic oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties, and as such is widely used in the preparation of ointments for skin disorders and afflictions. It is also used in the manufacture of plasters.
In recent years, university researchers have provided the scientific evidence for the medicinal properties of mastic. A 1985 study by the University of Thessaloniki and by the Meikai University discovered that mastic can reduce bacterial dental plaque in the mouth by 41.5%. A 1998 study by the University of Athens found that mastic oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Another 1998 University of Nottingham study, claims that mastic can heal peptic ulcers by killing Helicobacter pylori, which causes peptic ulcers, gastritis, and duodenitis. Some in vivo studies have shown that mastic gum has no effect on H. pylori when taken for short periods of time. However, a recent and more extensive study showed that mastic gum reduced H. pylori populations after an insoluble and sticky polymer (poly-β-myrcene) constituent of mastic gum was removed, and if taken for a longer period of time.
A balm was created from the mastic tree resin for use by physicians in Biblical times..


Apart from its medicinal properties and cosmetic and culinary uses, mastic gum is also used in the production of high-grade varnish.
The mastic tree has been introduced into Mexico as an ornamental plant, where it is very prized and fully naturalized.  The trees are grown mainly in suburban areas in semiarid zones, and remain undamaged, although the regime of summer rainfall is contrary to its original Mediterranean climate.
A related species, P. saportae, has been shown by DNA analysis to be a hybrid between maternal P. lentiscus and paternal P. terebinthus (terebinth or turpentine). The hybrid has  imparipinnate leaves, with leaflets semipersistent, subsessile terminal, and sometimes reduced. Usually, P. terebinthus and P. lentiscus occupy different biotopes and barely overlap: Mastic appears at lower elevations and near the sea, while the P. terebinthus most frequently inhabits inland and mountainous areas such as the Iberian System.
Dufte-Zeichen ('Scents-signs'), the 4th scene from Sonntag aus Licht by Karlheinz Stockhausen, is centred around seven scents, each one associated with one day of the week. "Mastix" is assigned to Wednesday and comes third.


Pithecellobium dulce, also known as Samania saman, and commonly known as Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, Monkeypod Tree or camachile, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Pacific Coast and adjacent highlands of Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It is also sometimes known as monkeypod, but that name is also used for several other plants, including Samanea saman. It is an introduced species and extensively naturalized in the Caribbean and Florida, as well as the Philippines and Guam via the Manila galleons. It has also been introduced to Thailand and South Asia, It is considered an invasive species in Hawaii.


Pithecellobium dulce is a tree that reaches a height of about 10 to 15 m (33 to 49 ft).  Its trunk is spiny and up to nine meters in girth (9.4 feet thick DBH) and its leaves are bipinnate. Each pinna has a single pair of ovate-oblong leaflets that are about 2 to 4 cm (0.79 to 1.57 in) long. The flowers are greenish-white, fragrant, sessile and reach about 12 cm (4.7 in) in length, though appear shorter due to coiling. The flowers produce a pod, which turns pink when ripe and opens to expose the seed arils; a pink or white, edible pulp. The pulp contains black shiny seeds that are circular and flat. Pollen is a polyad of many pollen grains stitched together.
The seed is dispersed via birds that feed on the sweet pulp. The tree is drought resistant and can survive in dry lands from sea level to an elevation of 1,500 m (4,900 ft), making it suitable for cultivation as a street tree.


The English names "Manila tamarind" and "Madras thorn" are both misleading since it is neither related to the tamarind nor native to Manila (though it was introduced early to the Philippines) or Madras. Other English names include blackbead, sweet Inga, and monkeypod.
Depending on the region of its occurrence, Pithecellobium dulce is known by different names. In its native Mexico, the tree is known as huamuche, guamuche, huamúchil, guamúchil, or cuamúchil, deriving from its Nahuatl name cuauhmochitl. The Nahuatl derivations are also preserved in its names in the Philippines, where it was first introduced into Asia via the Manila galleons. It is known as kamachile in Tagalog (from where the English name "camachile" is derived), kamunsil in Hiligaynon, and damortis or kamantiris in Ilokano.
In the wider region of Latin America, it is also called pinzán, or guamá americano (Puerto Rico). In Colombia it is known as chiminango and payandé. It is also known as ʻopiuma in (Hawaiian).
In South Asia and the rest of Southeast Asia, it is known by many names, most of which literally translate to "foreign tamarind". These include: makham thet in Thai; plaeh umpel tek in Khmer; kodukkappuli or kodikallaka in (Tamil); seema chintakaya in Telugu; dora hunase or seeme hunase in Kannada; bakhai ambli or goras ambli in Gujarati; vilayati chinch or chinch bilai or cheese bilai in Marathi; jungle jalebi in Hindi; seema Kaiyan in Odia; achhi gidamiri in Sindhi; and jilapi in Bengali. In Pakistan, it is also known as "jungle jalebi", after the resemblance of its fruits to the jalebi.


The seed pods contain a sweet and sour pulp which is eaten raw in Mexico, the Philippines, Pakistan, and India as an accompaniment to various meat dishes and used as a base for drinks with sugar and water ('agua de guamúchil').
The seeds are said to be eaten (locally?) in the 'Revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon' (1980), edited by M.D. Dassanayake (this information is not in the original 'Flora of Ceylon' of 1894). A number of studies since the 1980s have investigated the composition and possible uses of the seeds; it has been demonstrated that the seeds can be processed to extract a greenish oil, which when refined and analysed consists of potentially edible fatty acids (the precise composition varies depending on the study, but all agree oleic acid and palmitic acid are common, which is to be expected). Oils amount to 10-17% of the weight of the seeds. The seeds also contain 30-37.5-67.11% protein, which researchers suggest might in the future be used as animal feed.


The bark is used as an astringent for dysentery in India,
It is said to have been used as an antipyretic in India (information originally from 1933), used for eye inflammation, although an anecdote from Sri Lanka claims the bark contains a substance that causes eye infections and swelling of the eyelids.
The Huastec people of northern Veracruz and San Luis Potosí in Mexico used different parts of the tree to treat gum ailments, toothache and cancer.
The leaves are said to be used in a poultice with alcohol to treat bile, as well as being used to prevent abortions/miscarriage, although the leaves are also said to be used to cause abortions.
The pulp from the fruits is said to be astringent and hemostatic, and used for hemoptysis.
The ground seed is sometimes traditionally used to clean ulcers.
Non-specified parts of the plant are said to be used extract is also used against hemorrhages, chronic diarrhea, and tuberculosis.


Pithecellobium dulce is a host plant for the caterpillars of the Common nawab (Polyura athamas), three-spot grass yellow (Eurema blanda), Bright babul blue (Azanus ubaldus) and several moths.


Pithecellobium dulce is known under numerous junior synonyms:
Acacia obliquifolia M.Martens & Galeotti
Albizia dulcis (Roxb.) F.Muell.
Feuilleea dulcis (Roxb.) Kuntze
Inga camatchili Perr.
Inga dulcis (Roxb.) Willd.
Inga javana DC.
Inga javanica DC.
Inga lanceolata sensu Blanco
Inga lanceolata Willd. is Pithecellobium lanceolatum
Inga leucantha C.Presl
Inga pungens Willd.
Mimosa dulcis Roxb.
Mimosa edulis Gagnep.
Mimosa pungens (Willd.) Poir.
Mimosa unguis-cati Blanco
Mimosa unguis-cati L. is Pithecellobium unguis-cati
Pithecellobium littorale Record
Pithecollobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth. (lapsus)


Pittosporum eugenioides, common names lemonwood or tarata, is a species of New Zealand native evergreen tree. Growing to 12 m (39 ft) tall by 5 m (16 ft) broad, it is conical when young but more rounded in shape when mature. Its leaves are mottled yellow-green with curly edges and a salient bright midrib, and have a strong lemony smell when crushed. It has highly fragrant clusters of attractive yellow-cream flowers in spring, followed by distinctive black seed capsules. It is found throughout New Zealand's North and South Islands along forest margins and stream banks from sea level to 600 m (1,969 ft).  It is New Zealand's largest Pittosporum.
The binomial qualifier eugenioides means "resembling Eugenia", a different genus of plants.
The variegated cultivar 'Variegatum' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Pittosporum eugenioides starts out as a small compact tree, as it matures it becomes a tall branched tree. The lemonwood flowers between October and December. The following year after flowering the capsules will open. The capsules open the next year because the fruit of the lemonwood takes between 12 and 14 months to ripen. There is unripe fruit and ripe fruit present on the lemonwood at the same time, this is the current season’s fruit and last season’s fruit. Lemonwood is pollinated by both insects and birds, the seeds are bird dispersed. The seeds of the lemonwood germinate quickly and will become seedlings within a month.


Pittosporum euegnioides is endemic to New Zealand. There are “about 200 trees and shrubs” in the genus located in neighbouring parts of the world. Countries with the same genus found include; Africa, Australia, some Pacific islands, southern & eastern Asia, and New Zealand.
A reason for this endemic occurrence is due to the isolation of New Zealand over a long period of time.


Pittosporum euginiodes is found throughout New Zealand’s South Island and North Island in low lying forests. It is found in forest clearings and along forest margins up to 600m above sea level.


The pittosporum flower weevil (Aneuma rubricale) is a parasite that feeds on the underside of the lemonwood leaves. This parasite does not kill the lemonwood it just damages the leaves through its feeding. The holes the weevils eat in the leaves are visible because the leaf reacts causing a dark brownie purple ring to form around the hole. Pittosporum eugenioides is only a host to the adult weevil as the larvae are hosted on different pittosporums. Common garden pests can cover this plant, such as Aphids and blister scale (Psyilids). Both can easily be controlled and treated with an insecticide. The best time to spray as a preventative is February, then again in October.


The sweet scent of the flowers suggest nectar loving birds find this an ideal plant to forage from. The experiment was carried out to see if the citrus-like chemicals were the same ones that are present in lemon-like species, such as Verbena varieties. The lemony leaves are a unique combination of scented chemicals found in the oil produced. Octyl acetate, Terpinen-4-ol and Decanol were found in a test that was carried out. Octyl acetate is responsible for the "fruity, Jasmine, herbaceous aroma". Terpinen-4-ol scent is "somewhere between peppermint and pine". Finally, Decanol is a "fatty, orange blossom odor". Results of this test unearthed that this lemonwood aroma combination is very unusual for this genus and the chemicals are different to what you would find in other citrus scented species.


Maori traditionally used the gum and crushed leaves and flowers of the tarata for scent, usually mixed with plant oils such as titoki and kohia.
Maori also used the lemonwood to make hair oils and perfume. For perfume, the oil was mixed with bird fat. The gum from the tree was used for bad breath. They rolled the gum in to a ball and this was thought to last a whole generation. The gum made a great glue when chewed as well.


Pittosporum eugenioides is great for establishing a shade canopy in a restoration setting. It then provides an opportunity to introduce understory, shade loving plants to the same location, later planting underneath the lemonwood trees. It is recommended to plant this species closer than you would normally find in the established forest. “close planting imitates the growth of the seedlings on the forest floor”, resulting in plants tending to grow upward more rapidly. P. eugenioides is one of the best plants for this rapid canopy growth because it is already fast growing.
Lemonwood is on the recommended list for replanting “small trees up to 6m” naturally occurring species in to the design guidelines of the Christchurch City Council. “Hardy native species offer a great number of benefits” and are more flexible to suit local conditions compared to “foreign” plant selection.


It is important to include historic, naturally occurring species planting design because they perform well in local conditions. “As well as looking good, the design provides wildlife habitat, recreational spaces, also assisting in filtering water runoff”.
P. eugenioides in a home setting will most likely be found as a hedging or screening plant. Happy to be near a swimming pool, a great choice too because it has minimal leaf litter drop. Great in a windy position in a design and also provides a barrier for the surrounding more intolerant plants. Great as a greenery backdrop with the textural leaves clustered together as well.


Pittosporum tenuifolium is a small evergreen tree – up to 10 m (33 ft) – commonly known as kōhūhū and black matipo, and by other Māori names kohukohu and tawhiwhi. Its small, very dark, reddish-purple flowers generally go unnoticed, and are scented only at night. The Latin tenuifolium means "slender-leaved"


The scientific name of kōhūhū is a good starting point to find out more about the physical characteristics of the species. Pittosporum translates to tarry – pittos – seed – sporum, a reference to the sticky fluid that encases the seeds and tenuifolium means thin – tenui – leaf – folium.
Kōhūhū is a bush or small tree that grows up to around 8–10 metres tall. The trunk is slender (30–40 cm diameter) with a mottled dark grey bark color that progressively turns black towards the tips of the branches
The leaf coverage is compact in kōhūhū; the leaves’ arrangement on a stem is alternate and the petiole short. The leaves themselves are usually small – 2–4 cm long by 1–2 cm wide – but can grow up to 7 cm long. The edges are undulated and the leaf shape can range from oval to almost circular. Young leaves are covered in a layer of fine hairs that gets shed as the leaves grow. Adult leaves have a smooth, glossy texture. The colouration of the foliage is a silvery green, darker on the upper side and lighter underneath. The midrib of the leaf and its smaller lateral veins are whiteish and quite visible on the upper side of the leaf.
Kōhūhū has small – around 1 cm in diameter – dark coloured flowers. The colour ranges from dark-red to dark-purple turning almost black as the flowers age. On rare occasions, the colour can be red or yellow. The flowers develop from lateral buds, either individually or in clumps, and can be male or bisexual.
The flowers are filled with nectar and exude a honey scented fragrance in the evenings with the scent being more obvious in slightly damp conditions. This attracts moths and night flying insects, and it is believed these insects help with pollination.
Fertilised flowers develop into small – around 1.2 cm in diameter –  globe shaped fruits. The fruit is covered in a small layer of hairs during early maturation that is progressively discarded as the capsule ripens. In the ripening process the capsule shrinks, hardens up and turns almost black, splitting into two or three segments when ripened. Inside are black seeds, encased in a very sticky substance. The stickiness of the seeds is likely to help with seed dispersal.


Most of the plants in the genus Pittosporum are easily propagated from seed, but germination may be slow. In horticultural production, the sticky substance coating the seeds is removed before sowing, as it acts as a germination inhibitor. The seeds are treated to simulate natural conditions for six weeks in order to improve germination rates.
Kōhūhū is a relatively fast growing plant growing from 0.5 metres to 3 metres within five years. The root system is shallow and spread out. These characteristics make it ideal – when used in conjunction with another plants – for use in stream stabilisation and erosion control.
Flowering happens in late spring, from October to November, and the maturation of the fruit happens between mid-summer and autumn, from January to March.
The seedlings of kōhūhū are unusual, as in some cases they have three or four seed leaves instead of the usual two.


There are over 50 insect species listed in the Plant-SyNZ database that either feed on or parasitise kōhūhū – wasps, sucking bugs, flies, moths, butterflies, thrips, mites and beetles. There are also more than a dozen beetles that feed on the dead plant material.
Below are some species of interest, organised by feeding habits:
Pittosporum flower weevil – Aneuma rubricale –, a native insect, lays its eggs on the flower of kōhūhū; interestingly, only kōhūhū is chosen for this, even if the weevil feeds on other types of Pittosporum. As soon as the weevil's larvae hatch, they start feeding on the stamens and ovaries of the flowers, switching to the leaves once they reach adulthood.
An arrival from Australia, pittosporum shield bug – Monteithiella humeralis –  as well as the endemic pittosporum psyllid – Trioza vitreoradiata –  feed only on Pittosporum species, by attaching themselves to a suitable part of the plant and feeding on its sap. The psyllid leaves a trail of characteristic “beads” behind.
Cottony cushion scale – Icerya purchase –, an Australian bug, soft wax scale – Ceroplastes destructor –, an import from overseas  and the Australian green shield bug – Glaucias amyoti –, native to New Zealand despite its name also parasitise the Pittosporum species, but have a more varied range of hosts. All attach themselves to a suitable part of the plant and feed on its sap.
New Zealand flower thrips – Thrips obscuratus – feeds on leaves, flowers and young fruit of kōhūhū, by piercing plant cells and sucking their contents.


Kōhūhū is a popular garden plant in New Zealand and overseas, often used a hedge or as visual backdrop. It is sometimes grown under the cultivar name 'Nigricans', so called because of its black stems. In horticulture it is valued for its coloured foliage (cultivated variations include purple, "silver" and variegated leaves), and for its tolerance of some horticulturally difficult growing conditions, including dry soils and shade (although in northwest Europe, cold and exposed situations do not suit it).
Several hybrids and cultivars have been developed and five varieties won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit due to their ability to cope in the growing conditions of the United Kingdom:
'Arundel Green'
'Garnettii'
'Irene Paterson'
'Silver Queen'
'Tom Thumb'
'Warnham Gold'


There are several recorded uses of kōhūhū by Māori. The resin and oils extracted from the leaves were used for their scent and were often mixed with ingredients sourced from other native trees in order to produce an oil of variable composition. The resin was obtained by making cuts in the bark of the tree and the leaves were crushed and mixed with other oils. The oil was used to scent little pouches or a dead bird skin, often worn around the neck. The oil was also used to scent houses and mats of people of high rank.
In addition, kōhūhū was also used for medicinal purposes by Māori. The resin was mixed with other gums and chewed as a cure for bad breath and sores in the mouth. Parts of the plants were used as topical treatment for relief of the symptoms of skin diseases. Crushed leaves were also used as a poultice for ulcers. The crushed bark was soaked in water and the resulting mixture used to treat breast or chest ailments, and the remaining liquid could be taken orally. It was used, together with flax root, to make a brew used to treat fever, bleeding and bruising. Validating its traditional uses as a medicine, a 2010 study indicated that kōhūhū does indeed possess some antimicrobial properties.
Lastly, the branches of kōhūhū were used in important Māori life ceremonies, such as baptisms, and are still used for welcoming visitors to a marae. Two of its common names, tāwhiri (“to wave to”) and rautāwhiri (“to wave a leaf”) reflect this.


Pittosporum undulatum is a fast-growing tree in the family Pittosporaceae. It is sometimes also known as sweet pittosporum, native daphne, Australian cheesewood,  Victorian box or mock orange.
P. undulatum has become invasive in parts of Australia where it is not indigenous. It is also highly invasive in South Africa, the Caribbean, Hawaii, the Azores and southern Brazil.


Pittosporum undulatum grows as a shrub or small tree to 15 m (49 ft) tall. Its evergreen leaves are lance-shaped (lanceolate), with wavy (undulating) margins. It carries conspicuous orange woody fruits about 1 cm in diameter for several months after flowering in spring or early summer.


French botanist Étienne Pierre Ventenat described Pittosporum undulatum in 1802.


Originally Pittosporum undulatum grew in moist areas on the Australian east coast, where its natural range was from south-east Queensland to eastern Victoria, but has increased its range since European settlement.


Likely pollinators of its flowers are moths and butterflies, as the flower produces a fragrant perfume at night. The fruit are eaten by currawongs, red-whiskered bulbuls, Indian mynahs and grey-headed flying fox. Seed is dispersed in bird faeces.


The earliest known record (according to the Australian Virtual Herbarium) is from Port Jackson, Sydney, in 1803. However, P. undulatum's status around the Sydney area is contentious. Even though it is native to the region, P. undulatum has spread to soils and bushland where it wasn't found before European settlement, often out-competing other plants.
Pittosporum undulatum is the most invasive tree species in the Azores, and has spread through most of the mid to low altitude forests, outshading and replacing native trees like Morella faya and Laurus azorica.
Pittosporum has done especially well in areas where the environment has been altered by humans – for example by habitat fragmentation weakening other natives, by fertilizer runoff from homes increasing soil nutrients and by the suppression of bushfires near suburbs. Unlike most natives, P. undulatum takes advantage of high nutrient levels and its seeds can germinate without needing fire. This has led to the species sometimes receiving the "invasive" label although some think that it is merely returning to areas where it grew before people arrived in Australia and began burning the environment far beyond that which previously occurred.
Recommended control measures have included the identification and selective removal of female trees to prevent spread, as well as careful burning, where possible, together with follow-up weeding.


Pityopsis falcata, common names sickleleaf silkgrass and sickle-leaved golden aster, is  perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae that is native to the United States and has been introduced to Canada.


It is listed as endangered in Connecticut, and as a special concern species in Rhode Island.


Plagianthus regius or lowland ribbonwood is a tree that is endemic to New Zealand. The common name is simply ribbonwood. The Māori name is manatu but is also known as houi, manaui manatu, puruhi and whauwhi.
The juvenile form has bushy interlacing branches with small leaves, while an older tree will tend to have larger leaves, sometimes with the lower parts of tree still displaying divaricating leaves. A profusion of small white or green flowers appear in dense clusters in spring making it easier to distinguish from the similar lacebark genus. One of the distinctive aspects of this tree is that it is usually deciduous which is unusual for New Zealand, although in the northern areas it can be semi-deciduous. It is considered the largest of New Zealand's deciduous trees growing to 17 metres, and grows in the North, South and Stewart Islands. A subspecies from the Chatham Islands, Plagianthus regius subsp. chathamicus, is very similar but lacks the divaricating aspect.
The bark of the tree was used in Māori traditional textiles such as in fishing nets.


Plagiodera versicolora grows to 2.5 - 4.8 mm in length and is metallic blue or green, occasionally purplish to black in colour.


Plagiodera versicolora lives in various habitats, but usually near water. Adults feed on leaves and pollen of willow and poplar trees, especially Salix fragilis ('crack willow'). It is predated by the shieldbug Zicrona caerulea, several ladybird species and the larva of a hoverfly (Parasyrphus sp.).


It is fairly common in central and southern England, with scattered records from Wales and Ireland and no records from Scotland. It has been introduced in North America.


Plagiomnium insigne, the badge moss or coastal leafy moss, is a species of moss found on humus in moist, shaded, lowland forests. It can also be found on soil along trails and other shaded, open areas. The moss sometimes forms lush, extensive mats.


The plants are large and showy, usually between 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) high. They have wide-spreading, glistening leaves when moist that become shrivelled and dull when dry. The fertile plants are unisexual. The male plants can be distinguished by their conspicuously flattened heads. The sterile stems are arched, like those of strawberries.
Badge moss is the largest mnium. It can be distinguished from magnificent moss by its unisexual plants, leaf edges that extend down the stems for a noticeable length, and 3-6 stalked capsules per plant.


Plagodis alcoolaria, the hollow-spotted plagodis, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1857. It is found in eastern and central North America.
The wingspan is 26–35 mm. Adults are on wing from the end of March to September.
The larvae feed on various deciduous trees, including basswood, beech, maple and oak. They prefer Betula (birch) species.


They have yellowish-white wings, with orangish-brown shading and lines that range in color from orange to brown black. The perimeter line curves outward and meets costa closer to apex than in other Plagodis species. They also have a large discal spot. The summer brood (P. kempii) have a paler yellow color with fewer markings than the spring brood.


They are found across North America. They are spotted from Nova Scotia to Georgia, west to Manitoba, and in South Dakota, Missouri, and Mississippi.


It is an annual herb usually lacking a stem, producing a circular rosette of many narrow linear leaves each up to 15 centimeters long. The stemlike inflorescences grow erect to a maximum height around 30 or 35 centimeters tall. Atop the peduncle of the inflorescence is a dense spike of many small flowers each with four whitish lobes a few millimeters long. Between the flowers are long, narrow bracts which may be 3 centimeters long, the defining characteristic of the species. The bracts have fluffy hairs around their bases near the flowers.


The plant is a rosette-forming perennial herb, with leafless, silky, hairy flower stems (10–40 cm or 3.9–15.7 in). The basal leaves are lanceolate spreading or erect, scarcely toothed with 3-5 strong parallel veins narrowed to a short petiole. The flower stalk is deeply furrowed, ending in an ovoid inflorescence of many small flowers each with a pointed bract. Each inflorescence can produce up to two hundred seeds. Flowers are 4 millimetres (0.16 in) (calyx green, corolla brownish), 4 bent back lobes with brown midribs and long white stamens. It is native to temperate Eurasia, widespread throughout the British Isles, but scarce on the most acidic soils (pH < 4.5). It is present and widespread in the Americas and Australia as an introduced species.


Plantago lanceolata is native to Eurasia, but has been introduced to North America and many other parts of the world with suitable habitats.


Considered to be an indicator of agriculture in pollen diagrams, P. lanceolata has been found in western Norway from the Early Neolithic onwards, which is considered an indicator of grazing in that area at the time. This would make sense, as P. lanceolata thrives in open fields where livestock are frequently disturbing the ground.


Plantago lanceolata is used frequently in herbal teas and other herbal remedies.
A tea from the leaves is used as a cough medicine. In the traditional Austrian medicine Plantago lanceolata leaves have been used internally (as syrup or tea) or externally (fresh leaves) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, insect bites, and infections. The leaves can be eaten when very young.
Songbirds eat the seeds, and the leaves are eaten by rabbits.


Plantago lanceolata contains phenylethanoids such as acteoside (verbascoside), cistanoside F, lavandulifolioside, plantamajoside and isoacteoside. It also contains the iridoid glycosides aucubin and catalpol. These iridoid glycosides make the plant inedible to some herbivores, but others are unperturbed by them—for example, the buckeye butterfly Junonia coenia, whose larvae eat the leaves of P. lanceolata and ingest the iridoid glycosides to make themselves unpalatable to predators.


Plantago lanceolata can live anywhere from very dry meadows to places similar to a rain forest, but it does best in open, disturbed areas. It is therefore common near roadsides where other plants cannot flourish; it grows tall if it can do so, but in frequently-mowed areas it adopts a flat growth habit instead. Historically, the plant has thrived in areas where ungulates graze and turn up the earth with their hooves.


The mode of reproduction can vary among populations of P. lanceolata. Reproduction occurs sexually, with the pollen being wind dispersed for the most part, though the plant is occasionally pollinated by bees. P. lanceolata cannot reproduce asexually in the way that many other species of Plantago can; instead, it is an obligate outcrosser.


Podosphaera plantaginis is a powdery mildew fungus that infects P. lanceolata. All of the P. lanceolata populations are infected by several strains of this powdery mildew fungus. Once the populations are infected, the symptoms are minimal at first. Then, after a few weeks or months lesions start to appear covering the entire surface of the leaves and the stem, making it very noticeable. Another species that infects P. lanceolata is Golovinomyces sordidus. Both of these mildews are obligate biotrophs, meaning that they can only infect living tissue. They cover the surface of the leaves and extend hyphae into the cell matrix in order to extract nutrients.


After the populations are infected, they react in different ways. Some populations of P. lanceolata are more susceptible to different strains of powdery mildew. Also, some populations have multiple resistance phenotypes where on the other hand, others may only have one resistance phenotype.
Overall, the populations that have the highest variety of resistance phenotypes will have the highest survival rates particularly when rates of infection are high.


Plantago maritima, the sea plantain, seaside plantain  or goose tongue, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution in temperate and Arctic regions, native to most of Europe, northwest Africa, northern and central Asia, northern North America, and southern South America.


It is a herbaceous perennial plant with a dense rosette of leaves without petioles. Each leaf is linear, 2–22 cm long and under 1 cm broad, thick and fleshy-textured, with an acute apex and a smooth or distantly toothed margin; there are three to five veins. The flowers are small, greenish-brown with brown stamens, produced in a dense spike 0.5–10 cm long on top of a stem 3–20 cm tall.


In much of the range it is strictly coastal, growing on sandy soils. In some areas, it also occurs in alpine habitats, along mountain streams. Some of the physiology and metabolism of this species has been described, of particular note is how the metabolism of this species is altered with elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.


Like samphires, the leaves of the plant are harvested to be eaten raw or cooked. The seeds are also eaten raw or cooked, and can be ground into flour.


Plantago patagonica is a species of plantain known by the common name woolly plantain. It is native to much of North America, including the southern half of Canada, the western and central United States, and northern Mexico, and parts of southern South America. It grows in many types of habitat, including grassland and woodlands. It is a hairy annual herb producing linear or very narrowly lance-shaped basal leaves up to 10 centimetres (4 in) long. There are usually many stemlike inflorescences growing erect to a maximum height of around 15 cm (6 in). Atop the peduncle of the inflorescence is a dense cylindrical or somewhat conical spike of several tiny flowers and bracts. The spike is very woolly.
Native Americans including the Navajo, Puebloans, and Hopi used this as a medicinal and ceremonial plant. The Navajo and Puebloans use it for headaches, diarrhea, babies' colic, and to reduce appetite and prevent obesity.


P. rugelii is commonly found in areas such as meadows, woodland borders, and stream banks


The yellow-billed spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is native to Australia, and is a vagrant to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.


The renowned ornithologist John Gould first described the yellow-billed spoonbill, naming it Platalea flavipes although noting its distinctness from other members of the genus. Bonaparte erected the genus Platibis in 1856, and Gould followed this classification in his later work. He noted the species appeared in great numbers across New South Wales in 1839, particularly in the north between the Hunter and lower Namoi Rivers. The year had been wet, in contrast to droughts in previous years.
A 2010 study of mitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that the yellow-billed and roseate spoonbills were each other's closest relative, and the two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genus Platalea or alternatively the two placed in the monotypic genera Platibis and  Ajaia respectively. However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within the one genus made more sense.


Measuring around 90 cm (35.5 in), the yellow-billed spoonbill has all white plumage. The long spoon-shaped bill, bare-skinned face, legs and feet are all yellow, while the iris is pale yellow. The sexes are similar in plumage and coloration. In the breeding season, the face is lined with black, long hackles develop on the chest, and the wings have black tips. The bill of the yellow-billed spoonbill is narrower and works more like a forceps than the larger-ended and more spoon-like bill of the royal spoonbill, which acts like a pair of tongs.  Like all members of the ibis and spoonbill family, it always flies with its head extended.


The yellow-billed spoonbill is found across eastern, northern and southwestern Australia, particularly around water, and has been recorded as a vagrant to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. It is not found in Tasmania. It nests in trees, marshes or reed-beds, and often roosts in trees. It occurs in shallows of wetlands, and occasionally on dry pasture.


The yellow-billed spoonbill is carnivorous, catching small animals by sweeping its bill through shallow water and swallowing prey once it is detected. When slow sweeping, the spoonbill walks with the bill at an angle at about 60 degrees to horizontal and with the bill tip open about 2 to 4 cm (1 to 1.5 in), sweeping an arc of around 120 degrees in front of the bird. The bird walks slowly, kicking up debris and small animals from the bottom of the water, which it then senses and catches with its bill. When an item is detected, the spoonbill switches to intensive sweeping of a small area.
The yellow-billed spoonbill has a row of small blunt knobs known as papillae which line the margins of the upper and lower mandible of the "spoon". These are sensory structures which help the bird sense vibration and hence seize its prey.
One field study at Lake Cowal in New South Wales found the water depth selected for feeding to be less than 40 cm (15.5 in). As well as lakes and swamps, the birds feed in paddocks inundated after heavy rain. Foraging occurs both during the day and at night.
Yellow-billed spoonbills also probe submerged plants directly for prey, and seize prey such as spiders above ground. They have been observed dragging their bills alongside themselves through shallow water while walking.
Prey items recorded at Lake Cowal include freshwater crustaceans such as the common yabby (Cherax destructor); shrimp of the genus Macrobrachium and family Atyidae; insects, particularly aquatic bugs of the families Notonectidae and Corixidae; fish such as mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) and flathead gudgeon (Philypnodon grandiceps); and occasionally freshwater snails and plant material such as medic burr (Medicago polymorpha).


The yellow-billed spoonbill nests once or twice a year, generally when water is plentiful. The breeding season varies: it is usually March to May after the wet season in the north of the country, and in winter–spring (August to October) in more temperate areas. The nest is a platform constructed of sticks; it has a hollowed centre, and can be located on the branches or fork of a tree, the base of which is often submerged in water. Reed beds are another nest location. The clutch consists of two to four dull white eggs measuring 68 x 45 mm. Nests are often located in colonies, with other species such as the royal spoonbill, Australian white ibis, straw-necked ibis, as well as herons, egrets or cormorants.


The Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), or common spoonbill, is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The genus name Platalea is from Latin and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill, and leucorodia is from Ancient Greek leukerodios "spoonbill", itself derived from leukos, "white" and erodios "heron". In England it was traditionally known as the "shovelard", a name later used for the Northern Shoveller.


This species is almost unmistakable in most of its range. The breeding bird is all white except for its dark legs, black bill with a yellow tip, and a yellow breast patch like a pelican. It has a crest in the breeding season. Non-breeders lack the crest and breast patch, and immature birds have a pale bill and black tips to the primary flight feathers. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. The Eurasian spoonbill differs from the African spoonbill with which in overlaps in winter, in that the latter species has a red face and legs, and no crest.
They are mostly silent. Even at their breeding colonies the main sounds are bill snapping, occasional deep grunting and occasional trumpeting noises.


This species is found widely in Europe, Asia and Africa. In Europe, it breeds from the United Kingdom and Portugal in west, locally through the continent, ranging north to Denmark and east to Balkan and the Black Sea. In Asia, it breeds in a broad band across the central part of the continent from the Black Sea to the Korean Peninsula, as well as Kuwait, southern Iraq, Iran, southern Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. In Africa, it breeds locally in coastal Mauritania and more widely along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts. Whereas those breeding in warmer parts of Asia, in Africa and the Iberian Peninsula largely are resident or only move locally, more northern breeders generally migrate south to winter in the northern half of Africa or warm parts of Asia. However, some northern birds do remain in the general region during the winter, including the United Kingdom and other Western European areas.
Eurasian spoonbills show a preference for extensive shallow, wetlands with muddy, clay or fine sandy beds. They may inhabit any type of marsh, river, lake, flooded area and mangrove swamp, whether fresh, brackish or saline, but especially those with islands for nesting or dense emergent vegetation (e.g. reedbeds) and scattered trees or shrubs (especially willow Salix spp., oak Quercus spp. or poplar Populus spp.). Eurasian spoonbills may also frequent sheltered marine habitats during the winter such as deltas, estuaries, tidal creeks and coastal lagoons.


More northerly breeding populations are fully migratory but may only migrate short distances while other, more southerly populations are resident and nomadic or partially migratory. In the Palearctic, the species breeds in spring (e.g. from April) but in tropical parts of its range it times breeding to coincide with rainfall. Breeding is normally in single species colonies or in small single species groups amidst mixed-species colonies of other waterbirds such as herons, egrets and cormorants. Outside the breeding season Eurasian spoonbills forage singly or in small flocks of up to 100 individuals. Migration is usually conducted in flocks of up to 100 individuals. Most activity takes place during the morning and evening (although in coastal areas it foraging is governed by tidal rhythms), they often roost communally in roosts which are up to 15 km (9.3 mi) away from the feeding areas.
The nest is a platform of sticks and vegetation which is either constructed on the ground on islands in lakes and rivers or in dense stands of reeds, bushes, mangroves or deciduous trees up to 5 m (16 ft) above the ground. Within colonies neighbouring nests are usually quite close together, no more than 1 or 2 m (3.3 or 6.6 ft) apart. Breeding colonies are normally sited within 10–15 km (6.2–9.3 mi) of feeding areas, often much less (although the species may also feed up to 35–40 km (22–25 mi) away).


Overall, the Eurasian spoonbill is not threatened and the total population was estimated at 63–65,000 mature birds in 2015. In Europe, the population experienced a significant decreased between 1960 and 1990, but since then it has been increasing and was estimated to number c. 29,000 mature birds in 2020. For example, in the Netherlands, the population had reached a low point of less than 150 breeding pairs in 1968, but due to better habitat protection and bans of toxins like DDT it rapidly increased from the 1980s, reaching almost 3000 pairs by 2015. Up to the early 2000s, in Europe only the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Hungary and Greece had sizeable breeding populations. The northernmost part of the Eurasian spoonbill's range is in Denmark where the first known breeding was in 1900. Through the 1900s, this breeding population was small and highly irregular, including long periods with none. The species became more thoroughly established in Denmark in 1996 (where a few birds, likely from the Netherlands, arrived and began breeding) and its population has since rapidly increased with multiple colonies; first passing 100 pairs in 2011, and with almost 600 pairs as of 2021. It is likely that this northward spread has been aided by increasing temperatures. In the United Kingdom, it was extirpated around 1668, although in the previous century it had been a widespread breeding species in southern England and Wales, even near London. There were breeding attempts again in the mid-1990s, with the first successful breeding in 1998. This culminated with the formation of a small colony of 6 breeding pairs at Holkham in Norfolk in 2010. In 2011, 8 breeding pairs nested, successfully fledging 14 young, and in 2018 the colony had increased to 28 breeding pairs.
Threats to the Eurasian spoonbill include habitat loss and degradation by drainage and pollution, it is especially adversely affected by the disappearance of reed swamps. In Greece disturbance from fishing once caused the population to decline, and human exploitation of eggs and nestlings for food has threatened the species in the past. Breeding colonies are highly vulnerable to general disturbances and predators like red fox. Consequently, colonies are often restricted to islands free of ground predators; however, in some places, pairs in mainland colonies may breed successfully by nesting off the ground in trees and bushes.
The research network Eurasian Spoonbill International Expert Group was formed in 1991. It made an action plan for the bird in 2008. In 2013 the group joined the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.


The black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) is a species of wading bird in the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, found in eastern Asia. This species has the most restricted distribution of the six spoonbill species, and it is the only one regarded as endangered. Spoonbills are large water birds with dorso-ventrally flattened, spatulate bills. These birds use a tactile method of feeding, wading in the water and sweeping their beaks from side-to-side to detect prey.  Confined to the coastal areas of eastern Asia, it seems that it was once common throughout its area of distribution. It currently breeds only on a few small rocky islands off the west coast of North Korea, with four wintering sites at Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as other places where they have been observed in migration. Wintering also occurs in Jeju, South Korea, Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan, and the Red River delta in Vietnam. More recently, sightings of black-faced spoonbill birds were noted in Thailand, the Philippines, and additional sites in China.
The black-faced spoonbill was internationally classified as an endangered species by the IUCN in 2000. Nearly driven to global extirpation in the 1980s, conservation efforts amongst various Asian countries in recent years has helped in bringing its population back onto a steadily increasing trend. The black-faced spoonbill population in the 2012 census was recorded at 2,693 birds, with an estimation of 1,600 mature birds. Breeding colonies occur between March and August, on small islands. In the 2022 global census, the black-faced spoonbill population was recorded at 6,162 individuals.
Black-faced spoonbills are known to be crepuscular eaters, using intertidal mudflats. Conservation efforts on protecting breeding sites and wintering sites have been made since, and surveys were taken in order to determine the opinions and awareness of the local residents, residing close to the black-faced spoonbill's natural habitats. One survey taken by Jin et al. 2008, inquired upon the ‘Willingness-To-Pay” factor in the locals, as well as understanding effects on mandatory surcharges compared to voluntary payments.


A study of mitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills found that the black-faced and royal spoonbills were each other's closest relatives.  Out of the six Platalea species within the family Threskiornithidae, the black-faced spoonbill is the rarest.


Black-faced spoonbills reached a serious low in population in the 1990s, but by 2003 their numbers increased to at least 1,069 counted individuals.  While it is known that their breeding area covers northeastern China and several islands between North and South Korea, human-assisted breeding efforts have not been overly successful due to the difficulty in sexing the black-faced spoonbills, yet using the polymerase chain reaction technique on DNA samples has allowed researchers to use another method to correctly sex adult Platalea minor specimens.
After migrating to their wintering locations, black-faced spoonbills return with yellow breeding plumage, which extends from the back of their heads to their breasts.
While this plumage only develops during the third or fourth year of life when the black-billed spoonbill is sexually mature, only about half of black-faced spoonbills with this plumage breed each breeding season, which contributes to the very slow pace at which the population numbers are increasing.


The global population of this species, is likely based on the winter population count which was carried out in 1988–1990 in all known sites. This count estimated about only 288 individuals. As of 2006, following sustained conservation efforts, the estimated global population had increased to 1,679; the 2008 census resulted in an estimated total count of 2,065 individuals ; and a 2010 census reported 2,346 . The known localised population of North Korea is not known to exceed 30 birds. However, there is believed to be another, so far undiscovered colony which provides regional population stability and it is assumed to be probably located in north-east China; for example, on the islands of Liaoning (near the Korean nesting zone).
As black-faced spoonbills are migratory birds, their conservation is based on the protection of their breeding, "stop-over" and wintering grounds, making conservation efforts complex. However, spoonbills are able to adapt to disturbances of large-scale. The exact distribution of the species remains unclear, although some attempts at modelling population developments under climate change impacts have been made.


It is thought that the principal cause of the decline of this species is the destruction of its habitat, more particularly the "valorization" of intertidal mudholes for agriculture, and more recently aquaculture and industrialization. The Korean War (1950–1953) must also have had a negative impact on the species, because the birds ceased nesting in South Korea at that time. In Japan, where it was once common for them to winter, they became extremely rare at this same time, and in later years there has never been a winter in which more than 5 birds were observed.
With the construction of a Shinkansen bridge in the Yatsushiro Sea between 2004 and 2009 next to a very important migration site for the black-faced spoonbills, many feared that it would cause their numbers to decrease. Thankfully, because of carefully planned out measures implemented in order to counter act the construction of the bridge, the population actually managed to increase during the time of construction.
Human disturbances can also be much more direct. Many humans disturb mating patterns unknowingly by taking photographs of birds during their mating time, leading to a decrease in offspring. According to a research done in the Xing-Ren Tuo region of China in 1999, shellfish collectors, photographers, powerboats, and gull egg collectors are the major sources of disturbance causing the black-faced spoonbill to leave their nests.