Summer tanagers, scientifically known as Piranga rubra, are members of the Cardinalidae family, which also includes cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. These medium-sized songbirds are a colorful and welcome sight as they return to the United States each spring and summer to breed. They prefer open woodlands and forests but can also be found in parks and gardens with mature trees. In this article we will look at interesting facts about summer tanagers.
12 Facts About Summer Tanagers
1. They are the only completely red bird in North America
While there are certainly many red colored birds in North America such as the cardinal, vermillion flycatcher and scarlet tanager, none of those are as 100% red as the summer tanager. The male summer tanager in his breeding plumage is bright red all over, no black patches or streaks like some other birds.
2. Males and Females Have Different Coloring
Male summer tanagers have bright red feathers with slightly darker red feathers along their tails and wings. Female summer tanagers are yellow, with brighter yellow on the head and chest and a slightly darker greenish-yellow on the back and wings.
3. Males are a mix of colors as they transition into adulthood
Young male summer tanagers are a greenish-yellow like females. As they get older, they will begin to molt and transition into the bright red feathers of their adulthood. But they don’t just go to sleep yellow and wake up red, there is a transitional molting period where they will slowly replace their yellow feathers with red ones. During this process they can look quite pretty in their own right, a mix of patchwork yellow, pink and red.
4. Summer Tanagers are Migratory Birds
Summer Tanagers are migratory birds that spend winters in Mexico, Central and South America. In the spring, these birds head north, covering up to thousands of miles to reach the United States. They begin to arrive along the southern border of the U.S. in March. In the spring and summer they are most common in the southeastern states and Texas, but also spread into the southwest. They don’t reach New England or the Great Lakes in large numbers, but some may stray that far north. They head back south in the fall and are mostly back on their wintering grounds by October – November.
5. They avoid overlapping breeding habitats with other tanagers
There are other tanager species that also breed in the U.S during the summer, and their ranges can overlap with the summer tanager. In the east there is the scarlet tanager, and the summer tanager will choose shorter and more open woodlands, leaving thicker forest to their scarlet cousins. In the west, summer tanagers will choose lowland areas along streams to breed, and leave higher elevation coniferous forests for the western tanagers and hepatic tanagers.
6. Summer Tanagers Eat Bees and Wasps
While other birds may avoid them, summer tanagers are specialists at eating bees and wasps, both on their summer and winter grounds. They will spot them from a perch, then head out and snatch them in mid-air, then carry them back to a perch. There, they will hold them in their beak and beak them on the branch to