Summer Tanager -- South Dakota Birds
| Length: 7.75 inches | Wingspan: 12 inches | Seasonality: Uncommon visitor |
| ID Keys: Rosy red overall (male), females bright yellow body with darker wings. | ||
Summer Tanager
Piranga rubra
The Summer Tanager is primarily a summer bird of the southern and eastern United States, but occasionally visits the state. They are the most widespread and common of the Tanagers found in the United States. Summer Tanagers often feed on bees and wasps, raiding bee hives and wasp nests, seemingly oblivious to the stinging insects.
Habitat: Open forests and woodlands.
Diet: Mostly insects, also fruits and berries.
Breeding: Non-breeder in South Dakota
Song: Summer Tanager Song, also Summer Tanager Call
Migrations: Summers in the southern and eastern United States. Winters in Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Similar Species: Scarlet Tanager
Status: Summer Tanagers have shown sharp declines in parts of its range over the last few decades.
Further Information:
1) USGS
Patuxent
Bird Identification InfoCenter, Summer Tanager
2) Cornell Lab of Ornithology - Summer Tanager
3) E-nature.com: Summer Tanager.
Photo Information: Photo courtesy of Norman Smith, 2004.
Proud Member Of:
Please mail any comments/suggestions/additional links for this page to: Terry L. Sohl
This page was last edited on 02/03/08