Summer Tanager

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Summer Tanager in the UK

Summer Tanager has one accepted British record. A first-winter male was on Bardsey Island, off the Llyn Peninsula in north-west Wales, from 11 to 25 September 1957. It was trapped three times by the bird observatory and photographed. The species is on the British List in Category A on that record, and none has been accepted in the decades since. It breeds in the southern and eastern United States and winters from Mexico to South America, so a British bird has been swept across the Atlantic on its first migration.

Where and when to see a Summer Tanager

One record sets no pattern, but the date and place fit other American landbirds: early autumn on a west coast island after Atlantic gales. Scilly, the Welsh islands, the Outer Hebrides and Shetland in late September and October are where a second would be expected. It would most likely be found in a sheltered garden or patch of trees, feeding quietly in the canopy. The related Scarlet Tanager has occurred more than once and is the likelier of the two.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Trees (extreme vagrant).
Diet: Insects.
Field note: Adult male all red.

How to identify a Summer Tanager

A stocky songbird, larger than a Greenfinch, with a long, thick, pale bill and a slightly peaked crown. Adult males are rose-red all over. Females are mustard-yellow to orange-yellow with olive wings. First-winter males, like the Bardsey bird, look like females and may show patches of red. There are no wing bars. It moves slowly through foliage and sallies out to catch flying insects, returning to beat them on a branch.

Call and song

The call is a quick, dry, descending "pit-i-tuck" or "pi-tuck", and is the best way to tell it from Scarlet Tanager, which gives a hoarse "chip-burr". Song is not likely from an autumn vagrant. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Scarlet Tanager: Scarlet Tanager is smaller-billed and greener, with blackish wings that contrast with the body in every plumage.
• Eurasian Golden Oriole: A female Golden Oriole is larger and greener above, with a pink bill, streaked whitish underparts and dark wings.

Related guide Rare birds in the UK.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Summer Tanager is a Legendary tier bird, worth +50 points when you log one. It is not on the Red or Amber lists in Birds of Conservation Concern 5.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Scarlet TanagerLegendary · Woodland (very rare vagrant)
• American RedstartLegendary · Trees (extreme vagrant)
• Bay-breasted WarblerLegendary · Trees (extreme vagrant)
• Blackburnian WarblerLegendary · Trees (extreme vagrant)
• Chestnut-sided WarblerLegendary · Trees (extreme vagrant)
• Golden-winged WarblerLegendary · Trees (extreme vagrant)

Summer Tanager: quick answers

Has a Summer Tanager ever been seen in the UK?

Yes, once. A first-winter male stayed on Bardsey Island in Wales for two weeks in September 1957 and was caught and ringed. No other British record has been accepted.

What does a Summer Tanager eat?

It is a specialist on bees and wasps. It catches them in flight, rubs off the sting against a branch and eats the adult, and it raids wasp nests for larvae. It also takes other insects and, in autumn and winter, berries and fruit.

What is the difference between Summer Tanager and Scarlet Tanager?

Bill and wings. Summer Tanager has a longer, heavier, pale bill and wings close in colour to the body. Scarlet Tanager has a small, stubby bill and dark wings: black on the red male, dusky on yellow-green females and young. The calls also differ.

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