Summer Tanager

Appearance:

Length: 6.7 in
Weight: 1.1 oz
Wingspan: 11 - 11.8 in

Summer Tanagers are medium-sized, chunky songbirds with big bodies and large heads. They have large, thick, blunt-tipped bills. Adult male Summer Tanagers are entirely bright red. Females and immature males are bright yellow-green—yellower on the head and underparts and slightly greener on the back and wings. The bill is pale. Molting immature males can be patchy yellow and red.

Habitat:

They breed near gaps and edges of open forests, particularly of deciduous trees or mixed pine-oak woodlands.

Behavior:

Summer Tanagers tend to stay fairly high in the forest canopy, where they sit still and then sally out to catch flying insects in midair or move slowly along tree branches to glean food. Males have a sweet, whistling song similar to an American Robin; both sexes give a distinctive pit-ti-tuck call note.