During the first week of May in central NC, the woods begin to fill up with the sounds of bird songs. It’s a symphony of whistles, chirps and chortles but with one call in particular that sounds out above all others.That is the familiar cluck-chirp of the Summer Tanager!
I spotted this handsome fellow this morning while birding at the Brumley Nature Preserve in Chapel Hill, NC.Swooping in low from branch to branch, he was very curious about my presence in his woods.
Normally Tanagers stick to around 20ft up in the tree canopies so it was really neat to get to see this bird at eye level for a change.

Did you know that the male Summer Tanager is the only entirely red colored bird found in the United States? Northern Cardinals and Scarlet Tanagers come close however both of those species also have black feathers on their bodies.
* A few bits of orange feathers may mixed in during molting periods. This guy seems to be just coming into his breeding plumage.All three species get their bold red hues from carotenoid compounds which produce the red (and sometimes yellow) colors seen in the birds feathers. These compounds are acquired through consuming berries and are then processed in the body into pigments that are deposited in the growing feathers.

When they’re not snacking on fruit, their diet mainly consists of insects and they are particularly fond of eating bees. You can even attract them to your yard by offering suet and and jelly at your feeders.Summer Tanagers are generally spring and summertime residents of the central and eastern regions of the Carolinas.They’ll hang around until September before migrating south to Mexico, Central and South America.
That being said, there are small but growing numbers of Summer Tanagers that stick around for the entire winter in the eastern part of the state provided that they have a reliable food source available to them via a feeder.Pretty cool huh?

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5