Western Tanager (Piranga Ludoviciana)Western Tanagers live in open woods all over the west where they often stay hidden in the canopy. They breed in open coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous woodlands up to about 10,000 feet elevation. These birds are especially common in forests of Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, and lodgepole pine. They also breed in riparian woodlands, aspen forests, oak and pinyon-juniper woodlands and they usually favor forest edges. During breeding season, they primarily eat insects but eat more fruit during fall and winter. Adult males are yellow with black wings and a flaming orange-red head. The back and tail are black. Adult females have red restricted to the front of the face, with a subtler yellow-green plumage on the body. They are swift flyers with rapid, powerful wing-beats and can hover for a few seconds at a time.Fun facts: Before swallowing dragonflies, Western tanagers will clip their wings, they will also occasionally clip their head and legs. 
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)The Black-headed Grosbeak is a larger-sized songbird with a very large conical beak and a short tail, which give them a rather compact look. Breeding males are an orange-cinnamon color with a black head and wings while females are brown above with a pale orange or buff color on the breast. They often stay hidden in dense foliage as they hop around searching for insects and seeds. Look for Black-headed Grosbeaks in mixed woodlands and mountain forests.Fun facts: Black-headed Grosbeaks are one of the only predators that can eat the monarch butterfly whose toxins make them toxic to most birds. Grosbeaks appear to eat them in 8-day cycles which researchers believe gives them time to eliminate the toxins in their bodies. |
Last updated: August 20, 2024