Here’s a bird that I’ve struggled to get a good photograph of, the Scarlet Tanager.
The first few photos show a handsome male that I found along the Blue Ridge Parkway back in June.
While he did sit patiently as I took photos, unfortunately the closest view I had was from about 100ft away. Thank goodness for a zoom lens lol!
Finally though, this past weekend I got a great close up look at a female at the Old Bynum Bridge in Pittsboro NC.
Although she’s not as brightly hued as her crimson & onyx mate, female Scarlet Tanagers are quite lovely dressed in their autumn gold & charcoal plumage.
Scarlet Tanagers are a summertime resident of central and western NC. They are found in deciduous forests containing mature hardwoods.
Unlike their relative the Summer Tanager, Scarlets are secretive creatures preferring to nest and hunt for a meal in areas away from people.
If you’d like to try and attract these beauties to come out of the woods to visit your yard try planting raspberry, huckleberry, serviceberry, mulberry, strawberry, and chokeberry on your property.
These gorgeous birds will stick around for just a couple more weeks before migrating south for the winter.
Do keep in mind that Scarlets are also fond of eating jelly, cherries, oranges, suet and mealworms so offering these items in your feeders may be enough to entice them to visit you when they return to the area next April.
Aren’t they lovely?
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on
the mighty @canonusa
#5ds