Every year my spring bird migration list feels incomplete until I spy a Scarlet Tanager. Their brilliant-red feathers make Northern Cardinals look dull, and once you’ve spotted one you can’t look away.
I hadn’t seen one for a couple of springs, but this year I was at a shorebird hotspot with a friend and she walked ahead to look for a rare shorebird that many birders had been buzzing about. I love all birds, but my favorites are the tiny warblers that hang out in the tops of trees. Our favorite warbler spot was closed for a trail renovation this year, so I whenever we found a patch of woods I scoured it intently—I still wanted to see my favorite warbler species!
That’s when I saw the unmistakable flash of red.
Scarlet Tanagers are bigger than a sparrow but smaller than a robin, and they are members of the cardinal family. During the spring migration you can find them in the tops of large trees (like oaks) hunting for insects.
On a chilly day when the insects might not be moving around as readily, or after a long overnight migration flight you might also see them in your backyard at a birdbath or eating suet or oranges or grape jelly. Or they may look for insects on the ground.
I was satisfied with my private screening of this beautiful bird, but 9 days later I was in my office staring out the picture window when I saw that flash of red again at the top of a hickory tree. I grabbed my binoculars to be sure I wasn’t wishing a cardinal into a Scarlet Tanager, but there was a bright, beautiful male hopping around with several species of my favorite little warblers.
I was able to find him several more times over the next two days before he moved on to look for a nesting site.
This beautiful bird is a long-distance migrant and spends its winters in South America!