Western Tanager

The Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana, is a medium-sized songbird of the Tanager family, Thraupidae.

Adults have pale stout pointed bills, yellow underparts and light wing bars. Adult males have a bright red face and a yellow shoulder, with black wings and tail; females have a yellow head and are olive on the back, with dark wings and tail.

Their breeding habitat is coniferous or mixed woods across western North America, as far north as southern Alaska. They build a cup nest on a horizontal tree branch, usually in a conifer.

These birds migrate to Mexico and Central America.

These birds are often out of sight, foraging high in trees, sometimes flying out to catch insects in flight. They mainly eat insects, fruits and berries.