🔍 Western Tanager | Piranga Ludoviciana 🐤
📍 Seen in Grecia, Alajuela, Costa Rica 🇨🇷
💬 The Western Tanager is the only North American tanager whose brilliant yellow pigment doesn’t come from the bird’s own diet — scientists believe it gets its rare red-orange pigment (rhodoxanthin) from insects, a source not found in other tanagers, making it biochemically unique among its family. For this particular case, this tanager lacks a red head most probably because it’s a female or an immature male.
🐾 Fauna Key Data
Western Tanager Piranga ludoviciana | |
| // Basic ID | |
| Conservation Status | LCLeast Concern (IUCN) |
| Coloration | Female / immature male: olive-yellow body, grayish-olive back, whitish wing bars, no red on head |
| Lifespan | Up to 8 years in the wild |
| // Size | |
| Length | 16–19 cm (6.3–7.5 in) |
| Weight | 24–36 g |
| Wingspan | 26–30 cm (10.2–11.8 in) |
| // Habitat & Behavior | |
| Native Range | Breeds in western North America; winters from Mexico through Central America |
| Habitat Type | Coniferous and mixed forests, mountain woodlands, forest edges |
| Diet | Insects, berries, and fruit; catches insects in flight during breeding season |
| Activity Pattern | Diurnal; migratory, traveling long distances between breeding and wintering grounds |
Sources: IUCN Red List · Encyclopedia of Life · GBIF · Catalogue of Life