Witnessing the seasonal bird migrants is as much a motivation to visit Prescott in the summer as escaping from the Phoenix heat. Joining me in the cooler area is a variety of birds from the cardinalidae family, probably the most vibrantly colorful of all the flying visitors.
The southern deserts of Arizona are a year-round home to two species in the family: the northern cardinal and the pyrrhuloxia. Meanwhile the higher elevations of the state welcome at least seven additional species for at least part of the summer.
Last year I identified hepatic tanagers visiting my Prescott cabin's suet feeder for the first time. They joined five other members of the family - black-headed grosbeaks, western tanagers, blue grosbeaks, summer tanagers, and lazuli buntings - that I also encountered in the area. Meanwhile, rose-breasted grosbeaks also pass through on their migrations between winter homes in Central America and breeding habitats in the northern Rockies.
Early in May, I observed a small flock of male black-headed grosbeaks in my neighborhood. It was my first encounter of the year of the most abundant cardinal in Prescott. Later in the month I saw either a female blue grosbeak or lazuli bunting - it's hard to differentiate the identically beige birds - on nearby Willow Creek. But it was another cardinal further up the creek this past weekend that especially intrigued me.
Because of the size I didn't mistake the flash of yellow in the cottonwood trees for a much smaller warbler. While I could have guessed the bird was an oriole - the Bullock's nests in the region - I soon noticed a red-colored head. With it's mostly yellow body, he was a good candidate for a western tanager.
Trailing the bird for twenty minutes, watching it fly between ponderosas and cottonwoods, and listening to its melodious call, I managed to snap a number of shots despite the bird hiding in the foliage. Thanks to the photos I'm confidant the bird was indeed a cardinal, an immature male summer tanager specifically.
I've seen plenty of summer tanagers in my immediate neighborhood; I even had a breeding pair make regular visits to my suet over consecutive summers. The male might be the reddest bird I know, while the female is also striking in her duller yellow plumage. The newly identified individual was probably in his first spring, not yet sporting his admirable plumage.
As he soon approached his first birthday in the spot where he just might have been born, his repetitious song was probably meant to draw the attention of a mate. He wasn't alone; cordilleran flycatchers and robins were prevalent along the stretch of Willow Creek I roamed. However I didn't identify another tanager, or any other cardinal variety for that matter. Until his sexy scarlet suit grows in, the young male may need to improve his song.
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| Young male summer tanager in Prescott. |
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| Young male summer tanager singing in Prescott. |
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| Young male summer tanager in cottonwood foliage in Prescott. |
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| Mature male summer tanager in Prescott several seasons ago. |
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