Western Tanager Photos From This Week

Western Tanager with tongue showing – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

On four out of five trips up into the Wasatch Mountains this week I’ve been able to take images of immature and female Western Tanagers. I also saw these tanagers on the fifth day but they were too far away to take quality images.  On one of the mornings was able to photograph a young tanager perched on some very bleached out branches against a dark background up close but those bright branches ruined those images for me.

The only Western Tanagers I have seen are immature and females so I’ve wondered if the males have already left the area and are now migrating south.

Click the first image below to start a slide show or use your mouse to scroll through them at your own pace.

Although male Western Tanagers are more colorful even when they aren’t in breeding plumage I enjoy seeing and photographing the immature and females of this species. I find their more subtle beauty especially appealing.

The serviceberries and chokecherries are ripe and juicy now in the high country and the Western Tanagers along with many other birds are feasting on the juicy fruits and berries.

I know that the Western Tanagers will soon be winging their way to warmer climates for the winter so I have felt a need to take as many photos of them and the other migrant birds that come to the Wasatch Mountains to nest and breed as I can.

Life is good. Stay safe.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Western Tanager photos plus facts and information about this species.