SUMMER TANAGER
SR

The summer tanager is quite common to the Historic Triangle area usually arriving here from South America the last of April. It is a bird of the open woods and quite often nests in suburban areas that offer substantial stands of large trees.

The male tanager is often called the summer redbird but in reality its plumage is not the vermillion red shown by the cardinal. Instead, it is a dull red above and shades to a brighter color on the crown, rump and upper tail. The colorful bird lacks the black wings of its close cousin, the scarlet tanager. The female bird, in olive drab, contrasts so sharply with her mate that one wonders if they belong to the same family.

Its nest is usually placed on a spreading branch of some deciduous tree, quite often directly over a path or roadway. The nest is composed of strips of bark, twigs, fine roots and leaves and is shaped like a small bowl.

The summer tanager has a distinctive call and, like many other birds, it is quite capable of. in show parlance, "throwing his voice" like a ventriloquist. This trait often makes it difficult to locate the bird despite its attractive coloration.