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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
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