Western Tanager

The western tanager is a medium-sized songbird found in the western regions of the United States. The adult male of this species has attractive orange-red and yellow plumage with an articulate voice and singing pattern similar to the American Robin. They prefer living in coniferous forests that they consider to be their natural abode.

Western Tanager

Western Tanager Scientific Classification

Western Tanager Quick Information

Western Tanager Range

Western Tanager Birds

Behavior

Western tanagers fly slowly in the leaves and branches foraging for small fruits and insects among the dense foliage. During the spring and summer, the males sing their repetitive courtship song frequently.

These songbirds occasionally bond with other small birds like purple finches, mountain chickadees, and Townsend’s warblers. Their territorial instinct makes both the males and females drive away other members of their own sex if they intrude their area of habitation.

Western Tanager Flying

These birds attack and startle smaller birds who have no time to escape; this sometimes leads to collisions. They move slowly among the upper branches of trees that makes them difficult to spot in the dense undergrowth; however, they can fly swiftly when required.

Western Tanager Nest

Migration

Western tanagers are neo-tropical migrants and go as far as Mexico and Central America during winter. Although they prefer migrating alone or in pairs, sometimes they travel in flocks. They generally follow a particular flight pattern and are late spring to early fall migrants.

Western Tanager Images

Central Baja California is considered to be the northernmost limit of the western tanager’s winter range, although some members of this species have also been sighted in the coastal regions of Southern California. However, the majority of birds of this species spend their winter in Southwestern Mexico and Central America.

Western Tanager Pictures

Mating and Reproduction

The mating season of these monogamous birds begins in late spring and continues till summer. During this time, the male chases the females among the trees to get a mate.

For nesting, they prefer coniferous trees like fir and pine but occasionally go for deciduous ones like aspen or oak. Females who reach the breeding grounds early scan through the canopy and choose those areas that are relatively open.

Western Tanager Male

They generally build the nest in a branch that is situated high up and far away from the trunk. It consists of a shallow open cup made of twigs, grass, fine rootlets and animal hair. Brown-headed cowbirds parasitize western tanager nests. They may remove tanager eggs from the nest and then lay their own. The tanagers usually accept the cowbird eggs as they are unable to differentiate them from their own.

Western Tanager Female

Life Cycle

The female lays a clutch of three to five eggs in the nest at the end of the gestation period. She then incubates the eggs for around two weeks. Both the female as well as the male care for the chicks and feed them.

The chicks fledge 11 to 15 days after hatching. The juvenile birds may stay with their parents for up to two weeks after fledging. Immature birds migrate much later than the adult birds.

Adaptations

• These birds undergo gradual feather molting as a precursor to the courtship season. This gives the males the attractive plumage necessary for attracting females. Molting also replaces worn out feathers before migration and also improves hygiene.
• With their evolved beaks and tongues, they can feed on nectar.
• Having flexible bodies, they can catch insects in mid-air by flying out.
• Western tanagers make use of techniques like tail cocking and wind flapping to help them protect against predators.

Western Tanager Bird

Interesting Facts

• Rhodoxanthin is a rare pigment found in insects that the western tanagers eat, that gives the birds their characteristic red color during the breeding season. This makes them very different from the other species of red songbirds who derive their bright red color from pigments called carotenoids.
• The migration routes of these birds have not been charted possibly because they travel long distances in the night over high altitudes.
• During their courtship ritual, the male tumbles past a female and performs antics that display his bright yellow and black plumage.
• It has been observed that during their migration, some of these birds reach the breeding grounds of northern Alberta and at the same time, another flock reaches Central Colorado that is more than a thousand miles to the south.
• They are the only species of tanagers who breed as far north as Canada’s Northwest Territories. They spend as little as two months in these chilly regions before migrating southwards to warmer areas.
• Western tanagers drink very less water; this could possibly be as they derive their daily quota from fruits and insects that they consume. However, it has been found that the migrant tanagers of coastal California drank more water than the birds in other regions.
• Due to legal protection, western tanager populations are much safer than they were a hundred years ago. Earlier, these birds were killed as they were considered to be agricultural pests.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_tanager

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ Western Tanager/ lifehistory

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/facts/western-tanager

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/64131/12747877