Western Tanager
Piranga ludoviciana · Cardinals and Allies
Banding codeWETA
Keys to identifying it
1Size & shape
About 7 in long.
2Color pattern
- Male: bright yellow body with a red-orange head
- Black back and wings with yellow wing bars
- Female: olive-yellow with wing bars
3Habitat & season
Mountain conifer forests in summer
In northern Utah: summer.
Seen most often in May and July.
Share of the region’s research-grade iNaturalist bird observations each month, scaled to this bird’s peak. Highlighted bars are its peak months.
4Voice
Hoarse, robin-like phrases; a rising 'pit-er-ick' call.
“pit-er-ick”
iNat 119657426 by Robbie Hannawacker · Canyonlands National Park, San Juan County, US-UT, US · CC0
Know it
- The red on its head comes from a pigment it gets from insects it eats — rare among birds.
- Breeds farther north than any other tanager.
- A summer visitor to Utah's mountain forests.
Often confused with
Lesser Goldfinch
Bullock's Oriole
Northern Yellow WarblerFrom iNaturalist identification data for northern Utah.
From Wikipedia
The western tanager is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0