Birds of the Sierra: Western Tanager

With bright red heads and brilliant yellow bodies, Eric calls them "Popsicle Birds."  Western Tanagers (Piranga ludoviciana) are abundant in the mixed conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada during the summer months, filling the canopy with their beautiful song.  (For a few weeks during migration, they can be seen in the Central Valley, particularly along riparian corridors.) 

Though they are one of our most brilliantly colored songbirds and their voice is a staple part of any summer soundtrack in the Sierra, they tend to keep to the canopy and are not as frequently glimpsed as might be imagined.  You have to really want to see a Western Tanager - or just get lucky, like I did with this bird that was having a snack at our campsite's picnic table when we pulled in.


While true tanagers are birds of the neo-tropics, Western Tanagers are more accurately placed in the Cardinal family, along with Grosbeaks and Buntings.  The Western Tanager breeds in the Sierra, in semi-open coniferous forests of ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine and Douglas fir up to about 10,000 feet in elevation.  As the warm season comes to a close in the Sierra, Western Tanagers migrate south to Central America to join the true tanagers, and bring a splash of the tropics to Sierran forests when they return each summer.  In fact, Western Tanagers bring the colors of tropical sunshine farther north than any other tanager, spending the summer or breeding months as far north as northwestern Canada.


Much of a Western Tanager's day is spent foraging for insects high in the canopy, and even these conspicuous birds can be tricky to track down with a pair of binoculars.  But once you see a flame-like male Western Tanager, with his red head, yellow body and black wings, you won't soon forget it!  I recommend learning the song of the Western Tanager (listen here or here) so that the next time you're enjoying a summer day in the cool forests of the Sierra, this bird's voice will tip you off to its presence in the canopy above.

 

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