Wayward summer tanager makes first appearance on record in Vancouver

Published on: December 11, 2017 | Last Updated: December 11, 2017 10:08 AM PST

A wayward summer tanager is being observed for the first time in Metro Vancouver — and is attracting a throng of birders from around the region.

This particular summer tanager is an immature male and should be wintering in much warmer climes to the south, but it showed up Saturday morning in Wendy Kahle’s backyard is southwest Vancouver.

The colourful bird has only been recorded six times in B.C. and never before in Metro Vancouver, according to the B.C. Rare Bird Alert website.

“I put some peanuts out as I do every day,” Kahle said. “I glanced out and noticed it was very different from all the other birds I usually see.”

She took a photo and posted it on a birding Facebook page, where it was quickly identified and posted on the rare bird website. Within a couple of hours birders were showing up to view the bird on her property, but from the perspective of the Arbutus Greenway or Avery Avenue, near Southwest Marine Drive.

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Possible sighting of summer tanager in Pembroke, a very rare bird for this region

By Ken Hooles, Daily Observer

Thursday, October 6, 2016 6:37:26 EDT PM 

On Sept. 10, Mark Dojczman of Pembroke located a possible female Summer Tanager near Water Street and the entrance to Algonquin College parking lot. The last time one of these birds was located in our area was about 10-15 years ago in Deep River. That bird was a male juvenile Summer Tanager.

The Summer Tanager (Pirange rubra) is the most common North American Tanager in its range across eastern and southern United States. In Ontario, it is quite scarce and is considered a rare bird.

The male Summer Tanager has a brilliant red plumage all over its body with a slight tinge of black on its wings. Our Scarlet Tanager is a darker red and has very prominent black wings. The female of the species, like the one reported, has olive-green upper parts and orange-yellow under parts. It is hard to distinguish her from the female Scarlet Tanager. The first year juvenile male Summer Tanager is a mix of red and yellow greens.

The Summer Tanager is mainly found alone or in pairs. It is normally found near water and bottomland hardwood and riparian forests. It likes to forage for food at the middle level of trees where it picks food off leaves. It also likes to catch wasps and bees while in flight. While the wasp and bees are the Summer Tanager’s favourite food, it also enjoys other insects, grubs, caterpillars, and fruit.

This Tanager has one to two broods per year. The eggs of the Summer Tanager are incubated for 11-12 days by the female. The young leave the nest anywhere from 11-14 days later and are fed by both sexes.

The Summer Tanager is very common in deciduous and mixed conifer forests in the southern United States., but there has been a slight decrease in their numbers in the eastern United States due to habitat loss. It is a nice bird to observe, especially for our area!

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