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Western Tanager

Piranga ludovicianaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Tanagers (Thraupidae)

Western Tanager Portrait
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General

Western Tanager: Medium-sized tanager with brilliant red head, bright yellow body and black back, wings, and tail. Wings have two bars: upper yellow, lower white. Female is olive-green above and yellow below with wing bars similar to male.

Range and Habitat

Western Tanager: Breeds from southern Alaska and Mackenzie southward and winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include open coniferous forests.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"che-ree, che-ree, che-weeu, cheweeu", "pit-r-rick"

Interesting Facts

 The Western Tanager breeds farther north than any other member of its mostly tropical family, breeding to nearly 60° N in the Northwest Territories.

 The red pigment in the face is not produced by the bird but is acquired through their diet of insects that themselves acquire it from plants.

 This species was first recorded on the Lewis and Clark expedition(1803-1806).

 A group of tanagers are collectively known as a "season" of tanagers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Western Tanager
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Tanager (Thraupidae)_blue
Species Piranga ludoviciana
Length7.25 Inches
Wingspan11.5 Inches

Western Tanager

Western Tanager: Medium-sized tanager with brilliant red head, bright yellow body, black back, wings, and tail. Wings have two bars: upper bar is yellow, lower bar is white. Legs and feet are gray. Swift direct flight on rapidly beating wings. It was first recorded on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

● Song: "che-ree, che-ree, che-weeu, cheweeu", "pit-r-rick"

● Foraging & Feeding: Western Tanager: Eats insects and berries; forages in trees and shrubs, or catches insects in the air.

● Breeding & nesting: Western Tanager: Three to five brown marked, blue eggs are laid in a frail, shallow saucer nest woven from rootlets, weed stalks, and bark strips, and saddled on a horizontal branch of a Douglas fir, spruce, pine, or oak. Female incubates eggs for about 13 days.

● Similar species: Western Tanager: Flame-colored Tanager has dark bill, bolder white wing-bars, and darkly streaked back. Scarlet Tanager (female and juvenile) has olive-colored back and lacks wing-bars.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Western Tanager Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Western Tanager: Breeds from southern Alaska and Mackenzie southward and winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include open coniferous forests.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationFairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight1 Ounces