By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
Multiple bird feeders near Scott and Trish Hart’s Lake Panorama home attract a wide array of birds. Some bird species are seen less frequently than others. In late spring, two bright colored males that are fairly rare to the Hart feeders were captured by Trish Hart’s camera.
One morning, a young male Summer Tanager perched on a half-cut orange. Males that are about 1 year old, like this one, show blotchy patterns of red and green, or red and yellow. After their first molt, adult males are a solid rose-red color.
Summer Tanagers mainly eat insects. They are not likely to eat from traditional seed feeders, but as this visitor shows, they can be drawn in by the same things that attract orioles, oranges and grape jelly. Summer Tanagers spend their summers across the southern part of the U.S., with some venturing into southern Iowa. They migrate to Central and South America for the winter.
A breeding male Indigo Bunting is blue all over with slightly richer blue on his head and a shiny, silver-gray bill. This species eats insects, seeds and berries and can be attracted to feeders like this one at the Hart house with a variety of seeds.
Indigo Buntings spend their summers throughout the eastern half of the United States, including Iowa. They migrate across the Gulf of Mexico in both spring and fall. Research has shown this bird migrates at night, and uses the stars to navigate.
Hart offers custom prints of her photos on canvas, paper, metal and glass. Learn more by visiting Nature’s Canvas Photography on Facebook.