Summer Tanager

The Summer Tanager is a songbird of open woodland, riparian groves, and pine-oak forest across the southern United States, Mexico, and Central America. Adult males are unique among North American tanagers in being entirely rosy-red year-round, without the black wings shown by Scarlet or Western Tanager, giving them a more uniformly colored appearance. Females show a warm mustard-to-orange-yellow plumage, and immature males can show a striking, patchy mix of red and yellow feathers as they transition to adult plumage.

Adult male body feathers are a uniform rosy-to-brick red across the head, back, wings, and underparts, lacking the contrasting black wing and tail feathers seen in Scarlet and Western Tanager, which is the single most reliable feature separating this species from its relatives. The bill is notably large and pale, slightly drooping, an additional useful field mark. Females show warm mustard-yellow to orange-yellow body feathers, generally without strong contrast between body and wing color, distinguishing them from the more olive-toned female Scarlet Tanager. Immature males often show a blotchy, patchwork mix of red and yellow feathers during their transition to adult plumage, a pattern not seen in this combination in other tanager species.

Adult males retain the same all-red plumage throughout the year without a distinct seasonal change, unlike Scarlet Tanager which molts to a duller non-breeding plumage. Females maintain their mustard-yellow to orange coloring year-round. First-year and second-year males typically show a transitional, patchy red-and-yellow plumage before completing the shift to full adult red plumage over one or more molt cycles.

Summer Tanagers breed in open woodland, riparian corridors, and pine-oak forest across the southern United States, and occur through much of Mexico and Central America. Northern breeding populations are migratory, wintering from Mexico south through Central America and into northern South America, while more southerly populations can be resident.

This species forages in the canopy and mid-story for large flying insects, which it often catches on the wing, along with fruit. The song is a rich, whistled series similar to an American Robin's but more fluid, and a distinctive sharp, staccato chattering call is a helpful clue to its presence. Nests are cup-shaped, built on a horizontal branch in the canopy or mid-story. The Summer Tanager's habit of catching large flying insects in the air is a notable foraging behavior among tanagers.