Summer Tanager

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Summer Tanager
The diet of Summer Tanagers is primarily insectivorous, although some small fruits such as blueberries or blackberries are also eaten. A large proportion of the insects Summer Tanagers eat consists of bees and wasps, sometimes so many that the Tanagers can become a nuisance to apiarists. Paper wasp nests hanging under the eaves of houses are often destroyed by Tanagers seeking the larvae. Adults bees and wasps may be caught on the wing, held crosswise in the bill and rubbed against a branch so that the tip of the abdomen and the stinger are knocked off before they are eaten. Other insect foods include caterpillars, grasshoppers, dragonflies, beetles, and cicadas. Summer Tanagers typically forage in the tops of trees by deliberately gleaning from twigs and leaves, and occasionally hovering at leave clusters. The hard indigestible parts of large insects are disgorged as a pellet.

Summer Tanagers occur throughout the southeastern United States in open oak, hickory and mixed oak- pine woodlands and in parks, orchards and along roadsides. In the Southwest they are likely to be found in willow, cottonwoods, and sometimes mesquite woodlands along rivers and in canyons. Nests are placed on horizontal branches away from the trunks of trees usually between 10 and 35 feet off the ground. Males chase females in courtship flights and once the pair is formed the female constructs the nest from plant stems and grasses, bark strips and spider web. Spanish moss is used where available. Three to four bluish eggs with reddish brown spots are laid and incubated by the female alone. Both parents help with the feeding.
Summer Tanager Range Map

The song of the Summer Tanager is similar to the American Robin's, but is more rapid. It is purer and more musical than the hoarse burry song of the Scarlet Tanager. It is highly variable, but generally consists of five or more phrases each with two to four notes. The distinctive call is a harsh staccato descending "pituck" or "tipi-tuck-i-tuck".

In winter Summer Tanagers inhabit open woodlands, parks and second growth from Central America to northern South America They are usually solitary but do join mixed species feeding flocks.

Description: Summer Tanagers are about 7 1/2 inches long. Adult males are solid rose-red over the entire body, while females are olive green above and variably orange yellow below. The bill is large and horn colored. Males are distinguished from Hepatic Tanagers, which also occur in the West, although typically at higher elevations, by the Hepatic's grayish tones on the back, wings and flanks and at the sides of the face, and smaller dark bill. Female Hepatic Tanagers also show a dark bill and gray tones on the flanks, face, and upperparts. Female Scarlet Tanagers are similar to female Summer Tanagers, but lack the Summer Tanager's orange tones and have much smaller bills. The under side of the tail of the female Summer Tanager is greenish while that of the Scarlet Tanager is grayish.

Juvenile Summer Tanagers are faintly streaked brown above with olive tails, olive-brown wings and whitish yellow underparts streaked at the throat, breast and sides. At the end of summer the body feathers are molted in favor of olive green female-like coloration with an orange tinge above and yellow below. The sexes are alike in juvenal and first winter plumage. At their first spring males gain reddish feathers to varying degrees - some have only a few feathers, while others are mostly red. By fall they gain the adult plumage, and unlike Scarlet Tanagers they do not again revert to a greenish winter plumage.

Attracting Tanagers

Visit Shaw Creek Bird Supply to see our selection of Summer Tanager Feeders.