Western Tanager

Western Tanager, male, Riverside County, CA

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Western Tanager, female

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

Despite its striking markings of red, yellow, and black, the slow-moving Western Tanager is a surprisingly inconspicuous bird of the western forests.

Description

• Medium-sized songbird.
• Yellow with dark wings, tail and back.
• Two bright wingbars.

• Size: 16-19 cm (6-7 in)
• Weight: 24-36 g (0.85-1.27 ounces)

Sex Differences

Male with red head, bright yellow underparts, black back, wings and tail. Female without red, duller yellow, back and wings gray.

Sound

Song a series of short, burry syllables, reminiscent of a robin with a sore throat. Call a "pit-er-ick."

Conservation Status

Not threatened or endangered.

Other Names

Tangara à tête rouge (French)
Tángara capucha roja (Spanish)

Cool 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 of the Western Tanager is rhodoxanthin, a pigment rare in birds. It is not manufactured by the bird, as are the pigments used by the other red tanagers. Instead, it must be acquired from the diet, presumably from insects that themselves acquire the pigment from plants.

Sources used to construct this page:

Hudon, J. 1999. Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana). In The Birds of North America, No. 432 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.