Two old friends (1 male 1 female) said good morning by calling for their breakfast

[Omaha Steve]

X post in GD.

My 3-26-15 post about putting out jelly the first time this year full of old photos: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12081244

We don't leave bird food out overnight because of the raccoon's. I had already let the dogs out (checking to make sure we didn't have turkeys in the yard first) when we got up. We had the windows open overnight for a gentle cool breeze.

With the windows open, Marta and I soon heard the familiar call. A male Summer Tanager was calling for his grape jelly breakfast. I rushed out and fed everybody.

Our first major returnee that we know of. The photo below is a couple years old. We will have some new photos up in the next couple weeks.




Much more including their songs at link: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Summer_Tanager/id



The only completely red bird in North America, the strawberry-colored male Summer Tanager is an eye-catching sight against the green leaves of the forest canopy. The mustard-yellow female is harder to spot, though both sexes have a very distinctive chuckling call note. Fairly common during the summer, these birds migrate as far as the middle of South America each winter. All year long they specialize in catching bees and wasps on the wing, somehow avoiding being stung by their catches.

[shenmue]

1. Beautiful!

[L0oniX]

2. K & R

[locks]

3. You are so lucky to have Summer Tanagers

We have gorgeous Western Tanagers in Colorado but I miss the "red birds" especially the cardinals who used to sit in the trees and make their loud "time for supper" calls till we got the right seeds out. Have to make do with the red-wing blackbirds, flickers, and red-tailed hawks. Our white pelicans and avocets are back for a while. Thanks for the great pictures.

[NCarolinawoman]

4. One of the most beautiful birds EVER.

Just wanted to say I appreciate these photos. I have only seen a tanager once in my life. It was a scarlet tanager--the one with a few little black feathers on their wings.

I was a child visiting my grandfather in Maplewood, NJ. It was darting through mature maples that lined the street where he lived. Although the bird was " darting", he stood out so vividly.

The town of Maplewood, in northern NJ, is aptly named.

[TuxedoKat]

5. Do you live near water?

I first saw this bird two years ago in Missouri and it was next to the woods and a road with a stream on the other side. I've never seen them in my area, but I did see a Bluebird in my yard for the first time last week and today I saw a female with him. So I'm hoping they will nest in one of the bluebird houses in my yard.

[Omaha Steve]

6. We live right next to the Muddy Mo and a wetland

The little gray home cymbal is our house.