Scarlet Tanager

While I’m writing in the mornings, I open the window beside my chair so I can listen to the birds sing. We had several bursts of cooling showers last night which made the birds seem even livelier and more vocal this morning. Over the course of fifteen minutes I heard robins, eastern bluebirds, Carolina wrens, crows, a wood thrush, a phoebe, goldfinch, my towhee, chimney swifts, titmice, chickadees and a few others that were familiar but unidentified.

This morning I also had to step outside and take a peek. Today’s surprise was a male scarlet tanager hopping around and feeding in the lower canopy. And the rest of the surprise is we are well into the breeding season for this bird. He is clearly a seldom seen resident. I have very likely mistaken his song for a robin from time to time.

One of the interesting things I read about these birds is that the female, yellow with dark wings, also sings a less bold version of the male’s song, often in response to his song.

I caught this fuzzy photo of a female in early May. The female selects the nesting site and incubates the eggs, while the male feeds her and shares in the feeding of the young. My birder's handbook says a scarlet tanager can live as long as ten years. That's interesting to think about.