Woodline Ranch Avian Life Directory

Summer Tanager

Piranga rubra

The only completely red bird in North America! A stunning summer resident of Hill Country oak canopy, famous for hunting bees and wasps on the wing.

Field Identification: Adult male: 100% strawberry-red overall with a pale ivory bill (no black mask). Female: warm mustard yellow overall.

Texas & Hill Country Notes: Summer Tanagers are specialized bee and wasp hunters; they catch wasps in mid-air and rub them against branches to remove the stinger before eating them. Their call is a distinctive, sharp 3-note "pick-a-tuck!" echoed through treetop canopies.

Taxonomy & Status

Family: Cardinals and Allies (Cardinalidae)

Order: Passeriformes

Residency: Breeding Summer Resident (April – September)

Conservation: Least Concern

Habitat & Diet

Habitat: Oak Canopy, Riparian Edges & Woodlands

Diet: Wasps, Bees, Cicadas, Wild Berries, Grapes

eBird Code: sumtan

🪹 Nesting & Life History in Texas Hill Country

Nests in Texas Hill Country habitat around Woodline Ranch.

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