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Western Tanager

Western Tanager
Scientific Classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family:Thraupidae
Genus:Piranga
Species:ludoviciana
Binomial name
Piranga ludoviciana

The Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana, is a medium-sized songbird of the Tanager family, Thraupidae.

Adults have pale stout pointed bills, yellow underparts and light wing bars. Adult males have a bright red face and a yellow shoulder, with black wings and tail; females have a yellow head and are olive on the back, with dark wings and tail.

Their breeding habitat is coniferous or mixed woods across western North America, as far north as southern Alaska. They build a cup nest on a horizontal tree branch, usually in a conifer.

These birds migrate to Mexico and Central America.

These birds are often out of sight, foraging high in trees, sometimes flying out to catch insects in flight. They mainly eat insects, fruits and berries.