ID Keys: Males bright orange body and head, dark wings with 2 white
wing bars, streaked upper mantle. Females similar but
yellowish in color
The
Flame-colored Tanager is a beautifully colored tanager normally found in
Mexico and Central America. They are very rare vagrants in the United
States, with the first sighting occurring in 1985. Since then, they
have been seen occasionally, with most birds being seen in extreme southern
Arizona, but with a handful of sightings along the Mexican border of Texas
as well. They have also been seen nesting in Arizona. They are
closely related to the Western Tanager, and hybrid Flame-colored and Western
Tanagers are seen on occasion. The first Flame-colored Tanager seen in
the U.S. in 1985, in fact, was documented as breeding with a female Western
Tanager and producing offspring.
Habitat
The Flame-colored Tanager inhabits pine-oak forests, montane woodlands, forest edges, and shaded canyons in highland regions of Mexico and Central America. It is most commonly found in mountainous areas, often between 4,000 and 10,000 feet (1,200–3,000 m) in elevation. The species favors mature forests with a mix of trees and open spaces where it can forage in the canopy and along forest edges.
Diet
The Flame-colored Tanager feeds on a mixture of insects and fruit. It gleans caterpillars, beetles, ants, and other arthropods from foliage and branches, while also consuming berries and small fruits when available.
Behavior
Forages by deliberately moving through the foliage, pausing to look for insects. It will directly glean insects from foliage and branches, or it will sometimes fly out to capture flying insects in mid-air.
Nesting
The Flame-colored Tanager builds a small, open cup nest made of grasses, plant fibers, and other fine materials, usually placed on a horizontal branch in a tree. The female lays a clutch of 2–4 eggs and performs most of the incubation. Both parents participate in feeding and caring for the nestlings after they hatch.
Song
The Flame-colored Tanager gives a rich, musical song composed of clear whistles and warbling phrases, often compared to the songs of other tanagers and orioles. Males sing from exposed perches in the canopy to defend territories and attract mates. The species also produces a variety of shorter call notes used for communication between mates and members of feeding groups.
Migration
The Flame-colored Tanager is primarily a resident species throughout much of its range in the mountains of Mexico and Central America. Some populations make local elevational movements, descending to lower elevations outside the breeding season in response to food availability and weather conditions. It is not considered a long-distance migrant, although individuals occasionally wander beyond their normal range.
Western Tanager: The Flame-colored Tanager is more uniformly orange-red overall, with males lacking the bright yellow body and bold black wings typical of the Western Tanager. Western Tanagers have a striking yellow body, black wings with pale wing bars, and a reddish-orange head, whereas Flame-colored Tanagers appear more consistently flame-orange with less contrast between the body and wings. Additionally, Flame-colored Tanagers are primarily birds of Mexican and Central American mountain forests, while Western Tanagers breed widely across western North America.
Photo taken by Andy Jones - Cleveland Museum of Natural History - Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.
