Summer Tanager - Texas Birds

A juvenile Summer Tanager, Texas; 6/22/2011.

While visiting my sister and her husband in Texas, we were on their back deck when we all noticed a colorful bird at their birdbath (Above). I thought it was a Summer Tanager, but the coloring didn't look quite right.  After looking it up in my trusty Sibley Field Guide to North American Birds, I found it to be a juvenile Summer Tanager. Adult males are all red and adult females are yellow. This guy had traits of both colors.

A juvenile Summer Tanager, Texas; 6/22/2011.

The juvenile Summer Tanager (Above) must have liked the cool birdbath in the 90°+ weather, because it appeared several more times that afternoon.

A juvenile Summer Tanager getting ready to dive into the birdbath, Texas; 6/22/2011.

At one point, he was taking dives (Above) into the bath and dunking himself (Below), and it was fun getting this all recorded with my burst mode.

A juvenile Summer Tanager cooling off, Texas; 6/22/2011.

A juvenile Summer Tanager enjoying his bird bath, Texas; 6/22/2011.

Summer Tanagers can be found throughout the southern states from Arizona to Florida and as far north as my neck of the woods in Northern Illinois, as well as Indiana and Ohio.

A female Summer Tanager, Sequoyah Nat. Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma; 6/23/2011.

Then just a day later, after we left Texas, to break up our day's drive we stopped in Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge found on the eastern edge of Oklahoma. While hiking through this refuge we came across a pair of adult Summer Tanagers. Female Summer Tanagers (Above) are completely yellow with darker wings and a large bill. Male Summer Tanagers (Below) are completely red.



A male Summer Tanager, Sequoyah Nat. Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma; 6/23/2011.



A female Summer Tanager, Sequoyah Nat. Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma; 6/23/2011.



A male Summer Tanager, Sequoyah Nat. Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma; 6/23/2011.

This pair of Summer Tanagers gave us several good looks to get some decent photos. Together with the juvenile from Texas, Summer Tanagers became #317 on my Life List.

Sunset of the Day



Sunset from our Mineral Park Campground in the North Cascades Nat. Park, Washington State; 7/3/2006.