Persistence
July 2016
Last year, I realized I had something
special coming to my windows. That special something has been
annoying and beautiful at the same time.
Before then, I was well aware of a
red bird flying repeatedly into the kitchen bay window. I assumed it
was a Cardinal flying at its own reflection, as if he was seeing
another male “intruder” in his territory, or who mistook the
window for open space.
Maybe it was a Cardinal. But it may not
have been.
Two years ago, starting in May, a solid red
bird kept flying into the little octagonal window in our bedroom that
looks out to the back area. Sometimes he moved to the side and flew
into our larger, rectangular bedroom window that looks to the young
White Oak in the side yard and beyond to the woods.
This went on every single day, almost
constantly, dawn to dusk. This persistent red bird became our alarm
clock, of sorts. Every day, all day, we could hear it – the hard
click of bird feet on glass followed by the sudden, hollow-sounding
bang and the brush of beak and wings hitting glass. Why didn't that
bird end up dead on the ground below, or at least broken, or, at the
very least, stunned?
It just kept up repeatedly, with
occasional rests. It kept this up until late summer/early autumn,
though a little bit less intensely as summer went on.
And, it's been doing it again this
year.
Sometimes it stops to rest on a branch
of that young White Oak tree. Sometimes it rests briefly on the tiny
outside ledge of the octagonal window.
It rested long enough, now and then,
that I could get a better look at it, and even take some photos.
I started to notice that this
“Cardinal” did not have the characteristic, distinctive crest on
his head. Was this a mutant Cardinal that never developed one?
But, wait … there was something else
different. It didn't have any black on its face. And, somehow, it had
a different shape overall, and a different posture, a different
silhouette, a different attitude than a Cardinal. A certain, unique
mien.
I noticed, too, something different
about the beak. A Cardinal has a conical beak, like a thick triangle
in profile, primarily meant for cracking open seeds. This bird's beak
was a bit longer, and it turned down just a tiny bit at the end – obviously meant for a different purpose.
This bird also did not sound as sweet
as a Cardinal, to my ears. I realized that the repeated loud,
complaining sounds I'd been hearing in the summertime were this
bird. Though melodic, it often sounded more urgent than sing-song.
And more incessant.
I went to my field guides. It didn't
take long for me to identify him as the Summer Tanager (Piranga
rubra, meaning “small red bird”.) After all, the male
Summer Tanager is the only completely red bird (when fully mature) in
North America.
And there is was – that tipped beak.
I went to the internet for more
information and found that it eats mainly wasps and bees, somehow
avoiding getting stung in the process. I found out why in one source
(Tennessee's Watchable Wildlife) that didn't pull any
punches; “They capture bees and wasps in flight, killing them by
beating them against a branch, and removing the stinger before
consuming the insect.” Well, I hope death comes quickly upon
capture.
The web site for the Audubon Guide
to North American Birds (1) added, “ … after raiding wasp
nests and occasionally becoming a minor nuisance around beehives …
“ I'm sure many people are happy with the “raiding wasp nests”
part, but I'm not sure if our new beekeeping neighbors would like the
latter. I wonder if they see Summer Tanagers around their hives.
This same source clarified the first
part, telling me that it “Will break into wasp nests and eat the
larvae inside. “
Besides catching these insects on the
wing (in short flights after taking off from branches), this bird
will also hover over branches, picking off insects from the foliage,
mainly in treetops. Various sources told me that it will also eat
beetles, cicadas, caterpillars, grasshoppers, bugs, flies and other
insects, and some spiders.
I would think it would be full enough
after all of that (they sound very beneficial for controlling insect
populations), but they will sometimes eat small fruits and berries
near the forest habitat. So, planting such things might help them
out, as well as leaving trees on your property – especially oaks
and pines.
We most definitely have a welcome place
for Summer Tanagers. We have a woods full of various oak species (and
the young White Oak in our yard), some windbreak pines on the other
side of the house, and much in the way of small fruits and berries,
wild and domestic. No wonder they keep coming back! Smorgasbord!!
And, there are plenty of possible nesting places.
But, what about this bright red male
Summer Tanager flying into our bedroom windows all day, every day?
What in the world is he doing? And why??
Most people I've mentioned this
behavior to have said “He sees his own reflection” (and thinks
it's an enemy.) That was my first thought, too. Did he and a female
have a nest nearby that he felt he was defending? Or was it just a
broad, territorial defense?
Because of his persistence, attacking
his imaginary enemy, I named him ... Don Quixote.
Sometimes when I would walk into the
kitchen he would be there, flying into the bay window, occasionally
resting in a nearby pine tree. He was only flying at windows that
were not completely covered by screens, and that were not too close
to our dogs.
Was he really following me around? I
would walk back to the bedroom, and he would start attacking the
octagonal window again. Does he note our presence in the house? Does
he see our forms and perceive us as the enemies, instead of his
reflection? Either way, it would be an imaginary enemy (or,
mis-perceived), which still fit the name I had given him. And, there
were still times I could hear him flying at windows in a room while
we were not in it.
I wondered – was he just flying at
windows to capture bugs, with that efficient, slightly curved
bug-catching beak?
I watched him closely while he was at
the octagonal window. It is a rather buggy spot in the summer. And,
spiders tend to build webs across and near that window, providing the
bird with an even easier smorgasbord. Sometimes he did land on the
tiny outer edge and repeatedly jump up on the upper portion of glass.
Sometimes he would sit and look upward, twisting his body and craning
his neck, fluffing feathers out on the top of his head (resembling
the Cardinal a little more.)
And sometimes he came back down with a
bug in his beak.
Was that the reason he had been flying
at windows, every day, dawn to dusk? He certainly would capture many
bugs to feed himself, and his Lady Fair, and then little nestlings and
fledglings.
More digging told me that Summer
Tanagers are usually found in mid-canopy and above, making them
harder to see (even the bright red males seem to disappear from sight
into trees.) During courtship, the male often chases the female, much
as he does other males during territorial disputes.
The female does the nest-building. On a
branch, well out from the tree trunk, she builds a thin, shallow cup
of “grass, weed stems, bark strips, leaves, spiderwebs … “ (1)
and lines it with fine grass. The male doesn't help with this, but he
does hang around. For moral support? I imagine him “mansplaining”
nest-building instructions in Tanagerese while she labors away at
gathering and weaving, doing what she already knows how to do.
Then she lays “3-5 eggs, typically 4,
pale green or blue-green, with brown and gray spots, sometimes
concentrated at the larger end.” (1) She incubates the eggs
for only 11-12 days. The male feeds the female when she asked for
food.
Photo of nest with eggs:
Once the little Tanagerines hatch, both
parents take care of the constant task of feeding the nestlings. So,
this is likely when the flying-at-windows male task turns mostly to
bug-catching.
After the Tanagerines are fledged, they
hang out in their parents' territory for about another three weeks (7).
I have yet to figure out where Don
Quixote and his Lady Fair have been nesting. Does he have the same
Lady Fair each year? One source, Birding Information (3), says
they are “monogamous, but not necessarily from season to season.”
That means he stays with the same mate all year, but not necessarily
the same mate every year. So, who knows. What I really need to do is
watch them all season, more often, and more assiduously – where the
male goes when he flies into a tree, where the female goes during
nest-building, etc. A more thorough study is needed, putting my new binoculars to more use.
And what of Don Quixote's Lady Fair? I
finally saw her this year! I first spotted her outside the kitchen
Bay window, a clearer view created by her landing on a dead pine
tree. What a beautiful color – a combination of olive green and
mustard yellow, each color melding into the other in various spots.
It would certainly be difficult to find her in a leafy tree. Despite
her non-scarlet coloring, she looks as much the tropical bird as he
does.
But, my camera wasn't quick enough that
time.
However, I did manage to get a photo of
her during my second chance seeing her. This time she was in the same
area but had hopped down to the grass and stayed there a little
while.
Now, what of his constant yammering at
windows? Why in the world doesn't he get hurt? I posted photos of him
on Facebook last year and talked about him. A birding friend of mine
commented that he must be a tough little bird, flying all the way
from South America.
WHAT???
Yes. Searching for information again, I
found that Summer Tanagers spend the winter in places from Mexico,
the tip of Florida and in Central America all the way into northern
South America, as far south as Peru. They live their other lives “
… in the tropics, mainly in lowlands, but also up to the middle
elevations in mountains, both in solid forest and in edges and
clearings with scattered trees.” (1)
So, while we are cranking up the heat
in our houses up here, scraping ice off of windshields and shoveling
snow, they are languishing in tropical paradise. But, no – there's
really no laziness, no sipping exotic, colorful beverages while
lounging beneath huge umbrella-like leaves. These birds have a lot of
catching and eating to do, getting ready for the big spring
migration. According to Bird Watcher's Digest (2); “During migration the species covers a wide front; many birds fly
nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico on their journeys north and south”,
arriving in North America in mid-April and departing by mid-autumn.
Wow! Can you do that? I mean, let's
say, walk and swim your way, twice a year, over that distance? That's
a lot of bugs you'd have to eat … or pasta, or whatever.
Despite the constant pounding at the
windows all summer long, despite the repeated complaint-sounding
calls, I have a great deal of respect for Don Quixote and his Lady
Fair, and I think I'll even miss them this winter when there's frost
on the windows and this pair is hanging in the exotic tropical
forests and mountains. I hope they have no problem getting back here
next year, reestablishing territory and bringing up another
generation of Summer Tanagers.
You can hear various songs and calls of
the Summer Tanager here:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Summer_Tanager/sounds
and see a video here, videotaped by
Lang Elliott:
Sources:
1. Audubon Guide to North American
Birds: www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/summer-tanager
2. Bird Watcher's Digest:
www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/learn/identification/tanagers/summer-tanager.php
3. Birding Information:
www.birdinginformation.com/birds/tanager/summer-tanager
4. Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Summer_Tanager/
5. David's Photo Gallery (nest and
eggs):
www.dpwagtail.com/NESTS%20Album%M-Z%20Output1/pages/Summer%20Tanager%20nest%20and%20eggs_jpg.htm
6. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of
Eastern North America; David Allen Sibley; Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y.;
2003.
7. Tennessee's Watchable Wildlife:
www.tnwatchablewildlife.org/details.cfm?displayhabitat=forest&sort=aounumbr&typename=FOREST&uid=09041310595420115&commonname=Summer%20Tanager
