What a wonderful anecdote !
Incidentally here is a checklist with a Summer Tanager eating a wasp.
It is from the St. Matthews Community Park, a lovely place to bird, and yet
still eluding the Hotspot List from Jeff. Co.
Sunil
eBird Checklist - 28 Apr 2020 - St. Matthews Community Center Park, Louisville
US-KY 38.25316, -85.62322 - 22 species
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eBird Checklist - 28 Apr 2020 - St. Matthews Community Center Park, Loui...
Submitted by Sunil Thirkannad.
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On Saturday, October 3, 2020, 10:23:22 AM EDT, Ron Hirsch
<ronnie_pat@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
#yiv1456399114 P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}Great story! On one of my
outings recently, I came across a Summer Tanager and was able to get some
photos of it. When I was going through my shots, I was excited and surprised
to see that he had caught a bee! Here is my eBird link with 2 photos showing
his catch.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S73462470
Ron HirschJefferson CountyFrom: birdky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<birdky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of PRESTON FORSYTHE
<pns_for@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, October 3, 2020 9:02 AM
To: brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; BIRDKY <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [birdky] Re: Tanager Brainard, that is as fine of a Tanager story that
I have ever heard.
Preston
Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android
On Sat, Oct 3, 2020 at 8:02 AM,
brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx<brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Tanagers are known to
commonly search out bees and wasps as food.
Ray Harm's Summer Tanager print (attached) shows one pursuing a wasp.
They also really like spiders.
Years ago I had a male Summer Tanager with an injred wing that I kept in a
flight cage for several weeks while it recovered. I would go out into our hay
fields and sweep with an insect net until I had a number of various
invertebrates in it. I would turn the net inside out and shake out the contents
as the tanager (now somewhat tame) watched. As soon as I backed away, he would
hop down and clean up *every* one of the spiders first before moving on to
other items.
One time I mortally injured a big wolf spider with the lawn mower so I put it
in the net and took it over to the flight cage. By this time the tanager knew
that meant I was bringing food, so it was sitting on a branch I had in the cage
anticipating a meal. I was in the process of turning the net inside out when
the tanager spied the big spider before I got it completely turned out and it
literally *dove* into the net after the arachnid!!
That experience also taught me a subtle little contact call that Summer
Tanagers make because I was close to the bird so much. I seldom actually ever
hear that little sound in the woods, but when I do it always reminds me him.
When the bird seemed capable of strong flight, I opened the top of the flight
cage and he flew out. Never saw him again after that.
bpb, Louisville
