WESTERN TANAGER - Happy Holidays in Maine..WHAT? Yup, you heard right. A male Western Tanager has become a live yellow holiday ornament adorning various trees near the junction of Brown and Day Streets in Kennebunk, ME, this Holiday Season Found during the area CBC on December 27th, it has remained loyal to the area where it was first spotted, due no doubt, to the abundance of fruit. It has obsidian black back, wings and tail and startlingly bright yellow rump and underparts. In winter plumage, this birds bright red head has morphed to winter yellow with only a hint of red showing only on its face. Although slightly larger than the Scarlet Tanager, it has the same general shape and is distinguished from other tanagers by its heavy yellow and white wingbars. The females and immatures have more subdued yellow heads and underparts, with olive wings and tail and grayish back. The Western Tanager utilizes wide and diverse types of habitat breeding in the western third of the country, migrating south into Mexico for the winter. How did this guy get here? Who knows!....Change of scene, relatives, internal wiring issues or errant winds. A Western Tanager was found within a few miles of this location in May of this year. Good chance this is the same bird, but, maybe not. Hard to tell as they all wear the same clothes. Theres a good chance itll stick around, given the huge supply of berry laden trees in the area. Go see it. Its a good one!! It has a distinctive call and it has been using it, so listen carefully and perhaps hell give his location away.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 20:02:23 +0000
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