Western Tanager

Western tanager perched on a conifer tree
Western tanager. Photo by Ann Spiers.

Appearance: The western tanager is a medium-sized bird about 7 1/4″ long with a bright red-orange head, black-and-yellow wings, and bright yellow chest. The female does not have a red-orange head. Instead, she’s an olive-yellow color throughout.

Diet: Insects and occasionally fruits and berries.

Feeder food: Western tanagers are unlikely feeder visitors but may be enticed with fruit or grape jelly.

Habitat: Open woodlands, especially when pine, oak, and conifers are present. Higher elevations are preferred.

Nesting: The cup-shaped nest is placed high in a conifer tree, up to 60′ up. They have 4 eggs/brood and incubate for about 13-14 days.

Migration: Western tanagers are migrators. In the spring they head north into Canada’s Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan as well as the U.S. states Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. In the fall, they head back south to winter in Mexico.

Range Map

Western tanager  range map.
Western tanager range map. Compliments of The Cornell Lab.