Crimson backed tanager - Fun fact: pigments from the colorful fruits it eats helps paint its feathers. | explore.org

The male Western Tanager’s glowing yellow and red plumage lights up the coniferous and mixed forests of western North America each spring. The female, a drabber mix of olive-green, gray, and light yellow, virtually disappears into this habitat. Even males can remain surprisingly inconspicuous, however, as this species tends to feed and nest high in the tree canopy like its eastern relative, the Scarlet Tanager. Once considered a member of the Thraupidae family, which includes spectacularly-color

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Could you identify this Western Tanager by its song? Their song is robin-like in its short fluty phrases, rendered with a pause in between, but the quality is much hoarser. Call is a dry pit-r-ick. Learn more from our guide: https://bit.ly/3oBfLNi | National Audubon Society