Immature Summer Tanager

An immature male Summer Tanager dropped in for a quick bath. If you're a bird watcher then you'll understand my excitement when I just happened to be close enough to take some pretty descent shots of this gorgeous bird. I rarely get the opportunity to even see one of these in my yard, let alone get close enough for pictures. Summer Tanagers mainly hang out in tree canopies and swoop out to catch bugs and insects in mid-air or glean tree branches for the same. They also raid wasp nests and such. Wasps are one of their favorite snacks. The mature males are almost all bright reddish-orange and the females are yellow. Isn't he gorgeous?!!!

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Male Summer Tanager

His bright red plumage captured my attention as he perched upon an oak branch.  I gave him a second look and thought he appeared brighter than a Northern Cardinal, so I had to grab my eyeglasses and camera lens to zoom in.  I was happily surprised at what I saw- definitely a male Summer Tanager.  I was lucky enough last year to capture a few images of a female in her notable yellow plumage, but didn't see a male.  So I've been waiting and watching.  Finally, a male Summer Tanager was within my viewing range.  I wanted so bad to edge in a little closer, but I feared I might startle him. 

Imagine my frustration when a Northern Cardinal came along within seconds and chased the tanager away-  Darn it!  I waited a while to see if the tanager would return, but he didn't.   Oh well, at least I was fortunate enough to get a couple of shots of him, so I won't sulk about it too much...

I hope everyone enjoys their Wednesday.  Thank you so much for visiting my blog!

Linked with Stewart at 

Wild Bird Wednesday

Summer Tanager Revisit

I wrote a blog post about my first sighting of a female Summer Tanager on Monday of last week. The next day, she returned to our hummingbird feeders- not for sweet sugar water, however, but for the yellow jackets that were drinking the sugar water.

She stayed around just long enough for me to shoot a few photos from my bedroom window...these turned out a little better.   Depending on how the light illuminates her feathers, she has an orange glow to her chest which blends beautifully with her striking yellow plumage.  I welcome the migrating birds that pass through during spring and fall...their brief appearance forebodes the transition of seasons, a time of change.  

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A big Thank You to Stewart, our Host

Summer Tanager

I had a surprise visitor to my front porch a couple days ago.  As I sat and watched hummingbirds, a yellow bird flew toward the hummingbird feeders then darted out of sight when it saw me.  Initially, I thought perhaps it was a female Orchard Oriole. I remembered reading that Orioles generally like to drink from hummingbird feeders, so I assumed that is what the bird was after.  

However, a little while later when I looked out of my bedroom window, I saw the same yellow bird on the front porch rail, below the hummingbird feeders, eating a yellow jacket.  I observed the bird as it suddenly flew up to the feeder and snatched another yellow jacket.  I realized it wasn't the sugar water this bird wanted...it was the insects that were drinking the sugar water!   I reached for my camera to get a few shots.  Because I was behind my dusty bedroom window, the photos aren't that great, but I was happy to get some shots of this beauty...a "new" bird for me :)

I learned that this lovely yellow bird is a female Summer Tanager, a long-distance migrant that spends its summers in the southern U.S. and winters in Mexico and Central and South America. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web site, Summer Tanagers are bee and wasp experts. They catch these insects in flight and kill 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.  

The male Summer Tanager is a strawberry-red color, the only completely red bird in North America. I haven't seen one yet, but would love to- gorgeous bird!  With fall migration underway, I might just have that opportunity...