Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Winter Migrants in the Park (UPDATE)

We just spotted a beautiful male SUMMER TANAGER (Piranga rubra) hunting bees next to the house yesterday. Usually we get a female in the park this time of year, but almost never a male. I hope he stays for awhile ( in lieu of flying down to Central America).

VOCAB ALERT!!!

Sexual Dimorphism: when males and females have a different appearance


Male Summer Tanager


Adult males are obviously red




Male in it's 1st Spring


Females are usually yellow




Okay, so there is a reddish color phase that
females sometimes exhibit, but they are never
as bright red as the males.

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