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Birds of Zihuatanejo

CLASS AVES

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

-Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

-Birds (Class Aves)

-Perching Birds (Order Passeriformes)

-Cardinals and Allies (Family Cardinalidae)

-Northern Tanagers (Genus Piranga)

-Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)


Only the male summer tanager is red; the female is olive-backed with yellow-orange underparts. Summer tanagers are insect-eaters, and they are noted for their fearless predation on wasps, bees, and other stinging creatures. Beetles, caterpillars, cicadas, flies, and other insects are also taken, and in summer small fruits are eaten. Summer tanagers normally creep along tree branches scanning for insects, but they can also hover to glean insects from hanging leaves or capture flying insects with short flights from a perch.

Summer Tanager - Male

Piranga rubra

Diet

  • Primarily insects, including bees and wasps, beetles, caterpillars, dragonflies, grasshoppers, ants, flies, and spiders.

  • Famous for catching bees and wasps in flight and rubbing them against branches to remove the stinger before eating them.

  • Also feeds on berries, cherries, mulberries, figs, and other small fruits, especially during migration and winter.

  • Forages in the middle and upper canopy, making short aerial sallies or gleaning prey from leaves and branches.

Range

  • Breeds across the eastern and southern United States and into northeastern Mexico.

  • Winters from southern Mexico through Central America and into northern South America.

  • A common winter visitor to the Zihuatanejo region, where it inhabits tropical dry forests, woodland edges, gallery forests, gardens, plantations, and second-growth woodland.

  • Most frequently observed from October through April.

Male vs. Female

  • Male: Uniform brilliant rosy-red over the entire body, with slightly darker wings and tail and a pale horn-coloured bill.

  • Female: Olive-yellow to mustard-yellow overall, with slightly darker olive wings and tail; lacks any red plumage.

  • Immature males: Show a patchwork of yellow and red feathers while moulting into adult plumage.

  • The sexes are easily distinguished by their dramatically different colours.

Size

  • Length: 17–19 cm (6.7–7.5 in)

  • Wingspan: 28–30 cm (11–12 in)

  • Weight: 27–38 g (1.0–1.3 oz)

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