On September 21st, I saw, for the first time, a female Scarlet Tanager. I felt very lucky to see her because the behavior of scarlet tanager females is quiet and somewhat secretive, and they hang out very high in the canopy.
Scarlet Tanager female, 21 September 2024. [Photo: Cathie Bird]
The following day, her mate also flew into view, and he has been here every day since then, loading up for a long flight south. I believe he's the same one that's been around all summer, but now he's wearing his non-breeding season feathers -- and that's something else I had never seen before.
Scarlet Tanager male in his non-breeding plumage, 22 September 2024. [Photo: Cathie Bird]
Here he is just a little while ago, getting some suet. You can see a tiny bit of red feathering down low, to the left of his leg but not quite into the undertail feathers:
Scarlet Tanager, non-breeding male plumage, 24 September 2024. [Photo: Cathie Bird]
So far, I have only seen the female foraging for insects, not seen at the feeders. The male, on the other hand, has been a frequent visitor to the feeders since he arrived in late April, and I often saw him gathering suet and carrying it off. I have not seen juvenile tanagers around. Since he's gathering, I'm wondering if he's still taking some to his mate, as he would have in the nesting season.
Scarlet tanagers are thought to be monogamous through the breeding season, and are known to stay together until their young ones leave the nest and go off on their own.
You can see an earlier photo of this male in breeding season plumage here.
