#summer tanager

[speakingofnature]

Summer Tanager

The most memorable pleasant surprises are those that occur when least expected.

[birbmania]

Summer tanager, male . . . Trap Pond State Park, Laurel, Delaware . . . 8/1/23

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Summer Tanager

Photo: Doug Greenberg

"A languid song in southern woods, sounding like a lazy robin, is the voice of the Summer Tanager. Seeing the bird may require some patience, because it usually moves rather slowly in the treetops, often remaining hidden among the leaves. At times, however, it flies out conspicuously to catch flying insects in mid-air. This bird apparently has no fear of stinging insects, often raiding wasp nests and occasionally becoming a minor nuisance around beehives."

- Audubon Field Guide

[baby-bird-beaks]

Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)

© Matt Zuro

[nft578snkz]

summer tanager nikon coolpix l820 (source)

[alcnfr]

I got a better look at the Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) this morning in Feeder City.

[birdblues]

Summer Tanager

[lowcountry-gothic]

Summer tanager (Piranga rubra) in Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area, Blue Springs, Jackson County, Missouri. Photo by Rick Wilhoit.

[pleistocene-pride]

Piranga rubra, better known as the Summer Tanager, is a species of song bird in the cardinal family Cardinalidae which is native to North, Central, and South America. They live in a variety of habitats depending on there range including montane, temperate, an tropical forests as well as dry and riverine woodlands. They feed upon insects (particularly bees and wasps), arachnids, slugs, snails, fruits, and the occasional small vertebrate such as lizards. They are typically solitary animals but are known to form pairs in the mating season and flocks with up to 30 individuals, including mixed species flocks, during migration. There are 2 subspecies: P. r. cooperi which breeds in southwest USA and north Mexico and winters in south Mexico, and P. r. rubra which breeds in the eastern USA and winters in Central and North South America. Reaching around 6.7 to 8 inches (17 to 20cms) in length, 0.9–1.2 oz (25.5 to 34grams) in weight, with an 11 to 12in (28 to 31cms) wingspan, the summer tanager is a medium sized songbird. Males are bright rose or orange-red throughout the year whilst females are olive colored above with a rich yellow or orange underside. They breed during the summer forming pairs which monogamously bond for the season. They construct a bowl shaped nest out of leaves, vines, stems, and grasses amongst a horizontal branch of a tree some 8 to 34ft (2.5 to 10.5m) above the ground. Here the female lays 3-4 pale blueish green eggs with reddish brown spots. They are incubated by there mother for 12 to 13 days straight, whilst there father feeds and protects said mother. After hatching the chicks are cared for by both parents. The young fledge after 8 to 10 days, but remain with there parents for an addition 2 to 4 weeks. Under ideal conditions a summer tanager may reach sexual maturity at a year of age and may live up to 11 years.

[grimsauce]

Doing a quick bird study with my new gouache, it's taking some getting used to but I do really like it. I should really try it out on some more appropriate paper at some point at the weekend, as so far I've only used it on this dinky sketchbook designed for dry mediums.

Reference picture via todays bird

[hal-leef]

Inktober Day 23 - Rust ✒️

“Rust” is today’s prompt and today’s birds are the Scarlet Ibis, Cardinal, and Summer Tanager.. These red birds are some of my favorites, so I was excited for the opportunity to draw them. The scarlet ibis, also known as the red ibis, is native to tropical South America and parts of the Caribbean. It resembles many of the other species of ibis, but is unique for its scarlet color. The scarlet ibis is one of the two national birds of Trinidad and Tobago. The cardinal, also referred to as the common cardinal or northern cardinal, is found all throughout Canada, America, Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. It inhabits woodlands, shrublands, and wetlands. The cardinal is the state bird of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. Cardinals are best known by the vibrant red color, and black face present in the male birds. The summer tanager is an American songbird, and part of the cardinal family. The summer tanager resides in pine-oak and mixed forests typically found in the American southeast. 

[birdgenetics]

Birdtober 4th, 2024

The prompt for the day was "Red." I feel a little cheated by this, to be honest. We had the same prompt two years ago! But I definitely wanted to make use of my red colored pencils and draw a summer tanager, whose beautiful red plumage has inspired me to write stories.

Here is what I did for "Red" in 2022 by the way. I did this one as a practice to see how well I could draw from memory (no reference.) As you can see I have much more confidence drawing Buckeye chickens than Northern Cardinals, XD

Also I apparently did not know that 11 means November, not October.

[birbmania]

Summer tanager, female . . . Redden State Forest, Georgetown, Delaware . . . 5/16/23

[swede1952]

Not a goldfinch.

This morning, when I took this photograph, my initial thought was that it was the first goldfinch I've seen since Spring. I was going to write about seasons changing and birds starting to migrate. But I was off base, though I saw leaves starting to fall. I think this is a female Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) though scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) is another possibility. The wings aren't visible, but summer tanagers are a brighter yellow than the scarlets. She briefly visited this morning.

"The Summer Tanager is a bee and wasp specialist. It catches these insects in flight and kills them by beating them against a branch. Before eating a bee, the tanager rubs it on the branch to remove the stinger. Summer Tanagers eat larvae, too: first they get rid of the adults, and then they tear open the nest to get the grubs." - allaboutbirds.org

[balconybirds]

Sunday Birding 8/6/23

The trip to the arboretum was more successful than the pond, ngl. I was a bit sad I didn't get any pictures of my favorite funky guy, the green heron (I saw them though!!), but I did get this cool picture of a frog!

Started with some pretty flower pictures at the arboretum:

water liliesssssss:

first bird picture there, a handsome male goldfinch:

Him and and a buddy enjoying some flowers:

A butterfly!

I almost mistook this guy for a hummingbird, but it's actually a hummingbird moth (I should have known, lol):

I was so excited to see this guy! A male summer tanager! I was fortunate to see a female one earlier this summer, so I was super happy to finally see the male:

I also thought this was a neat picture of a turkey vulture midflight:

dragonfly!

after much consultation from my birding books, I'm pretty sure this is an eastern wood-pewee:

a male downy woodpecker:

a juvenile cardinal! Growing into his plumage, I see:

I loved this picture, a molting male cardinal and a juvenile cardinal. I'm pretty sure the adult is calling the teenage one a little punk, lol:

a tufted titmouse! they were so nice to pose for me:

more flowers:

another cardinal:

indigo bunting:

i love purple, so I gotta take some pictures of purple flowers:

BEEEEEEEEEEEES:

A turtle!

I'm pretty sure this is an eastern phoebe:

more water lilies, because i love them:

There was also a midair dogfight of epic proportions when I was at the arboretum, and I was lucky to see it! It was between three tiny hummingbirds, fighting over some flowers :)

some pictures of the victor:

[alcnfr]

I saw a Titmouse struggling to perch on the new suet feeder, so I went out in the drizzle to wire some better perches in place. As soon as I came inside and looked out, I saw my very first ever...

Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra).