Summer Tanager

Description

Summer Tanager is a colorful medium-sized bird. There are two subspecies, both occurring in the United States. Eastern Summer Tanager summers in southeastern U.S. and winters in Brazil and northwestern Bolivia. It is found in open deciduous woodlands, especially woodlands with oak or hickory. Western Summer Tanager summers in southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, and it winters in Baja California and southern Mexico. It is found in riparian woodlands with cottonwoods and willows.

Summer Tanagers are rare migrants to Minnesota. Both subspecies are often seen in orchards, parks, roadside trees, and residential areas near their usual woodlands. In the summer, they are sometimes attracted to backyard fruit feeders with orange or banana. In early spring and fall they sometimes come to suet feeders.

Adults feed mostly on insects, especially bees and wasps, but also on berries and small fruits.

Adults are 7″ to 7¾″ (18 to 20 cm) in length and have a 12″ (30 cm) wingspan. The body is robust. Like other tanagers, for whom they are misnamed, and other cardinals, to whom they are more closely related, male and female Summer Tanagers have very different coloration.

The male is bright rosy red overall year-round. The head has a slight crest.

The female has grayish green to greenish yellow upper parts and dusky yellow underparts. It sometimes has an orange wash overall.

The immature male in the spring of its first year is greenish yellow with patchy red, including a red head.

Western Summer Tanager has longer wings, a longer tail, and longer legs, and the bill is slightly longer. The overall coloration is paler, and the nape and rump contrast more sharply with the back.

Size

Total length: 7″ to 7¾″ (18 to 20 cm)

Wingspan: 12″ (30 cm)

Voice

The call is a series of three short whistled notes, sounding like pit-a-tuk.

The male song is a series of three to five whistled phrases separated by pauses, sounding like an American Robin but faster.

Similar Species

Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) overall color is a more intense scarlet. The wings and tail are black.

Habitat

Open mixed woodlands, riparian woodlands, and pine woodlands

Ecology

Migration

Late April to late May and August through October

Nesting

Summer Tanager does not normally nest in Minnesota. However, the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union shows it commonly nesting in Scott and Dakota Counties.

Food

Mostly insects, especially bees and wasps, but also berries and small fruits

Distribution

Occurrence

Rare migrant to southern Minnesota, erratic to the North Shore

Maps

The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map