We've had a pair of Western Tanagers hanging around the yard the past couple days.  Ellen took a couple photos this afternoon.  Thought you might enjoy seeing them.

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Best,

George

Cool. Ever notice that the more brightly colored the bird the faster that bird is.  They must be yummy.

         Potter

These are just pictures of the male.  The female has been too busy trying to figure out how to eat the oranges we put out for the orioles to sit still.   ;)

Interesting tidbit (well, at least to me) about Western Tanagers--the orange/red face pigment on the males is rhodoxanthin, a pigment rare in birds.  It's not manufactured by the bird itself, but must be acquired in its diet.

Best,

George 

Male birds are the colorful ones from what I understand.

In any case, what a pretty thing.

Charlie

Oh, I just love it when you post pictures of birds George.


Quote:

It's not manufactured by the bird itself, but must be acquired in its diet.

Kind of like Flamingos, huh?  Their pink color is due to the pigment in their diet.  Shrimp, I think.

Linda_Howell wrote on May 29^th, 2010 at 7:59pm:

Oh, I just love it when you post pictures of birds George. Kind of like Flamingos, huh?  Their pink color is due to the pigment in their diet.  Shrimp, I think.

But but but . . . shrimp aren't pink until they are cooked . . . ???  I'm having this vision of flamingos throwing another shrimp on the barbie . . . LOL

I have never seen a western tanager - they are spectacular!  We get the scarlet tanagers (rarely), and they are wonderful, too.

From wikipedia:


Quote:

Young flamingos hatch with grey plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly coloured and thus a more desirable mate. A white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or malnourished. Captive flamingos are a notable exception; many turn a pale pink as they are not fed carotene at levels comparable to the wild. This is changing as more zoos begin to add prawns and other supplements to the diets of their flamingos.

What a sweet, festive looking bird!  Wish we had them up here.  Thanks for sharing George. :)

Brew wrote on May 29^th, 2010 at 10:43pm:

From wikipedia:

Well I'll be damned . . . . ::)

Males of any species are more colorful than the female.  Nature did this so that the survival of the species would be ensured.  Wouldn't want a brightly colored mama on the nest.  Pardon the pun, but that would make her a *sitting duck* for enemies.

Beautiful! I haven't had any orioles at the hummingbird feeder, but I've had hummingbirds at the oriole feeder(read your other post). I have some nice pictures of birds, especially a hummer with his tongue out, don't know if I can get them on here or not. First try. It said picture is too big, I don't know how to resize other than thumbnail.