On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
First Timers Week
It’s Day 1 – let’s give a warm welcome to Dave Foster! We’re up to 6 first timers so far. I love the scarlet color of these birds, especially in contrast to the green background. Am I the only one who thinks the scarlet tanager looks mad in the final photo, like maybe the suet didn’t live up to his expectations? ~WaterGirl
Dave Foster
Scarlet Tanagers eat mainly insects along with some fruit and tender buds, so we were surprised to see one at our suet feeder.
Approach to suet feeder
Powering up to the feeder
Taking a bite of the suet
Dropping down from the feeder
Back to starting position
spudgun
Wow, that red color is amazing…these are wonderful photos! I’ve never heard of this bird before.
Thank you for these – I hope you submit more.
p.a.
Nice shots! Thanks.
Mary G
Hard to get action shots. Nice.
JPL
Thank you for the photos and it’s make me wonder, if I should put up a feeder. My photography skills are lacking, so don’t expect pictures.
satby
Wonderful action shots! I don’t think scarlet tangers are around here, off to google them ?
Baud
Nice.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scarlet tanager. Beautiful pictures.
Rob
A nice series of shots! I didn’t know that tanagers use suet feeders.
Albatrossity
Great pics of a great bird! We have Summer Tanagers nesting in the woods behind the house, and if we have a cold wet stretch in the spring they will use the suet feeder. As will the Baltimore Orioles, another non-traditional suet consumer!
arrieve
Perfect start to the morning. I saw a scarlet tanager in the trees in my neighbor’s yard a few weeks ago — though I do see birds from my windows here in Manhattan, they’re usually the common ones: mourning doves, blue jays, house sparrows, robins, crows, and the occasional cardinal.
And I’ve been missing going to Central Park to see birds so that tanager made me smile all day. Gorgeous creatures!
Please submit more pictures.
Auntie Anne
Great pictures! I love how you’ve caught the bird in action.
MelissaM
Cool action shots! Maybe the bird went to the suet due to the “meaty” scent?
Booger
I’ve seen scarlet tanagers twice in fifteen years here in Virginia’s Piedmont. They look like a cardinal that’s been plugged in and turned on…the vividness of their color is absolutely unbelievable and unmistakable.
PST
By coincidence, a column in today’s New York Times mentions the “secretive scarlet tanager.” The headline is “The Misunderstood, Maligned Rattlesnake,” but it’s not about Bill Barr, it’s about real rattlesnakes.
Miss Bianca
I think we get them here in CO, but I don’t remember ever seeing one when I lived in Michigan. Kudos to your photos, they are great!
Miki
Ooooh – very nice action shots!
A couple of scarlet tanagers showed up in my yard last year for the first time ever (East Side of St. Paul). I watched for them this year during the migration but didn’t see any. They’re so striking!
This year I’ve got a nice cardinal couple hanging out – they built a nest in an over-grown mock orange bush that really needs to be removed, but I don’t have the heart to do it.
Backyard birding is very satisfying – and not a lot of work. I have two feeders currently filled with sunflower chips (much cleaner than seeds in the shell), a thistle feeder, a suet cage, and a bird bath. A quick glance at my Sibley’s Backyard Birds (Eastern North America) poster tells me I’ve been visited by more than 25 different kinds of birds over the years. Highly recommend it!
WaterGirl
Dave Foster, I hope you are enjoying your debut at On the Road! I hope there will be more photos to come from you as the year progresses.
To everyone else who enjoys On the Road… think about sending some pics in? There are still First Timer slots open for next week. :-)
Redshift
Wow! I’ve only ever seen one once in Northern Virginia, and it was spectacular.
J R in WV
The reason we don’t see these striking birbs very often is that they are canopy birds, hanging out way up in the tree tops for the most part. Luring them down with a feeder is your best shot at seeing them, even tho they aren’t really rare. I didn’t know they liked suet, though, but it makes sense in a colder spell, suet is really high energy food, right up there with peanut butter. My dad used to spread a big gob of peanut butter in his yard every day.
Neighbor biologist who does birding for fun and sport IDs these birds by sound for census taking purposes. She knows the calls of a whole slew of birds… I do not.
stinger
So caught up in the Birthday posts that I’m only now (after my bedtime) getting to OTR. Great photos of one of my favorite birds!
I used to see a scarlet tanager about once a year, near the river, until a ton of trees were cut down by a curve in the road for “safety” reasons. Instead of, IDK, lowering the speed limit. I read that tanagers like large tracts of woodland, so every downed tree hurts my chances of seeing them.
I don’t do bird feeders but try to plant trees, bushes, and plants that particular species like. The Cornell Ornithology site doesn’t help me figure out what to plant to allure scarlet tanagers to my yard. :-(