These ‘vibrant’ red songbirds have arrived in Alabama for the summer
These bright red birds are back and ready to haunt the forests of Alabama for the summer.
Summer tanagers will hang around to breed until temperatures start to drop in the fall.
With vibrant colors that stand out against the green tree canopy, summer tanagers are the only completely red birds in all of North America, according to Cornell University.
“It’s just such a vibrant contrast between the red of the summer tanager and the green,” said Greg Harber with Alabama Audubon, the local chapter of the national birder group.
Unlike many bird species, the female summer tanagers are almost as vibrant as the males. They are bright yellow, though slightly smaller than the males. Immature males are a splotchy red and yellow mix.
Their near relative, the scarlet tanager, can also be found in Alabama during the spring and summer. But scarlet tanagers have black wings and are a deeper red than summer tanagers.
In April, summer tanagers arrived back in Alabama and much of the southeast. Starting in October, the birds will begin migrating to Central and South America, where they will spend the winter.
You generally won’t see summer tanagers in your backyard, except during their migration, Harber said. You’ll have to go to a wooded area to try and see them.
Harber recommends Oak Mountain State Park near Birmingham, Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, or Guntersville State Park.
Summer tanagers like to hang out in the tops of trees, chasing insects for food. The birds specialize in catching bees and wasps without getting stung. After catching bees, the birds will rub them against the tree to remove the stinger before eating them, according to Cornell.
It may be difficult to see summer tanagers, since they move rather slowly. Most of the time, they stay hidden in the treetops. Still, in the summer, they have been spotted often in Alabama. Since 2024, there have been more than 1,300 sightings of the birds logged in eBird, an online website for bird enthusiasts.
It may be best to try and listen for the summer tanager, rather than wait to see it. If you’re wondering if the bird you’re hearing is a summer tanager, pay attention to the length of the song — theirs is a bit longer than a robin’s. After the song is over, you’ll hear the bird chirp its signature call, a “pit-ti-tuck” sound.
While the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak’s song is like a “robin that took opera lessons,” Harber said, the summer tanager’s song is like “a robin with a sore throat.”
“When I teach classes on birds and bird songs, what I try to do is to get people familiar with the American robin, because we see them almost every day,” Harber said. “What I always try to do if I’m kind of stewing over, ‘Is that an American robin or is that a summer tanager?’ If you just listen a little bit longer, invariably the summer tanager is going to give you a ‘pit-ti-tuck.’”
If you’re looking to draw summer tanagers to your backyard, you may try planting a red or white mulberry tree, or another tree with lots of berries. Adding a water feature might help too, Harber said.