Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) | Photos, Calls and ID

LCLeast ConcernInvertebrates

ForestCup nestSmall · 28 g

Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), photo 1 — Photo: datadan · CC BY 4.0

Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), photo 2 — Photo: Sinaloa Silvestre · CC0

Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), photo 3 — Photo: Brandon Johnson · CC BY 4.0

Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), photo 4 — Photo: Brandon Johnson · CC BY 4.0

What the Western Tanager sounds like

Sonogram of the Western Tanager: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Song · Four Mile Draw Rd, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

Measurements: Length: 6.3–7.5 in (16–19 cm) Weight: 0.8–1.3 oz (24–36 g) Wingspan: 11.5 in (29 cm) Adults have pale, stout pointed bills, yellow underparts, and light wing bars. Adult males have a bright red face and a yellow nape, shoulder, and rump, with black upper back, wings, and tail; in non-breeding plumage, the head has no more than a reddish cast and the body has an olive tinge. Females have a yellow head and are olive on the back, with dark wings and tail. The song of disconnected short phrases suggests an American robin's, but is hoarser and rather monotonous.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Western Tanager

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 6 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Western Tanager

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 12 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States Canada Mexico Guatemala El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras Nicaragua Panama Belize Bermuda Cayman Islands

Recorded as a rare visitor in Chile.

About the Western Tanager

The western tanager is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivaceaThe scarlet tanager, a mid-sized passerine, is marginally the smallest of the four species of Piranga that breed north of the Mexican border.

Summer TanagerPiranga rubraAdults have stout, pointed bills and measure 17 cm (6.7 in) in length and weigh a mean 30.1 g (1.06 oz), ranging from 25.8–33.6 g (0.99–1.19 oz).

Hepatic TanagerPiranga flavaThe red tanager is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae.

Side by side: Summer Tanager vs Western Tanager · Scarlet Tanager vs Western Tanager

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