What IS that bird in your backyard?? (It's 6.7" long, smaller than an American Robin, but look at that huge beak!) Well, by golly, might be a Summer Tanager. Take a close look .... If it's a bright red bird with NO other colors, it's the striking male Summer Tanager. If it's a dull yellow bird, with some olive green wash on the sides, and grayish-brown wings, it is (alas) the female. The immature bird looks like the adult female, but (as you can see in our third photo), the young male can have a pretty splotched appearance with oranges and reds. He can be very colorful!!
The Summer Tanager is a bee and wasp specialist. It catches the bee in flight and kills it by beating it against a branch. Before it eats the bee, however, the tanager removes the stinger by rubbing it on a branch. The tanager eats bee and wasp larvae as well. Bee keepers hate them, but they can sure keep our wasp population down!
These birds have a pretty whistle with short pauses. Usually one set has something that sounds like "peanut-butter." And their call is a clicking "pit-i-tuck." Personally, it's a lot easier to identify these birds by their appearance on a birdbath than by listening for "peanut-butter" in the treetops, but often that's the only way you would know that they're around!
We have these beautiful birds in The Woodlands during the summer.
Enjoy them - enjoy their beauty - enjoy their song!!
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