Piranga ludoviciana
The Western Tanager, *Piranga ludoviciana*, is one of North America's most brilliantly colored songbirds, instantly recognizable for its striking male plumage. Males boast a fiery red head, contrasting with a vibrant yellow body and black back, wings, and tail, further distinguished by two prominent wing bars - a broad yellow primary bar and a narrower white secondary bar. Females, while more subdued, are still attractive with their overall yellowish-green hue, two distinct wing bars (one yel...
Found primarily in open coniferous and mixed forests, particularly Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir stands. Breeds at mid-to-high elevations in montane regions and winters in tropical lowlands.
Primarily insectivorous during the breeding season, consuming wasps, bees, beetles, ants, and cicadas; supplements this with significant amounts of fruit and berries, especially during migration and winter. Forages by gleaning from foliage and aerial hawking.
Western Tanagers are diurnal and highly active foragers, often seen gleaning insects from foliage high in the canopy or making acrobatic aerial sallies to catch flying prey. During the breeding season, males establish and defend territories with their distinct, somewhat hoarse, robin-like song an...
The Western Tanager breeds across a vast expanse of western North America, extending from southeastern Alaska and the Yukon south through British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan in Canada, and across the western United States from Washington and Oregon eastward through Montana, Wyoming, Color...
Least Concern
- The male Western Tanager's striking red head is a result of a unique metabolic process: it ingests yellow carotenoid pigments and then biochemically converts them into the specific red ketocarotenoid that colors its head. - Despite their vibrant, tropical appearance, these birds are long-distan...