Western Tananger

Western Tanager, picture from wikimedia commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piranga_ludoviciana2.jpg

I've been seeing a lot of Western Tanagers (Piranga ludoviciana) lately, which is awesome because they are so gorgeous! They are colorful and super bright, making them a hard bird to miss. The males have a bright orange/red head, a bright yellow body, black wings with yellow wing bars and a black tail. The females are yellow, but tend to be less bright, they don't have the orange/red head and their wings and tail tend to be more of a grayish brown than black.

I get really excited to see these birds and although they are not rare for this area, I tend not to see them all that often. I saw one at Leonard Creek Ranch over Memorial Day weekend and I've seen several on the Hunter Creek trail I've been hiking on for work. I think one must have a nesting site right along the creek just a small ways into the wilderness because I have seen him there every time I've hiked up. I also have seen them as I've been driving around town. I think I've seen more this year than I have in past years, which is really cool.

Some interesting facts from All About Birds is that Western Tanagers breed farther north than any of it's mostly tropical family members. Also the red pigment on the males head is pigment that is rare in birds (rhodoxanthin). It is thought that the pigment is most likely acquired from the food they eat, probably insects who obtain the pigment themselves from plants they eat. Cool stuff!

Also, go to All About Birds to check out what they sound like.