A few days ago, while birding in southeast Columbia, Missouri, I saw a bird that I reflexively identified as a western tanager. That impulse relates to the fact that we have a second home in Colorado, where western tanagers are common; observing one in Missouri would be an extremely rare event.
My transient impression soon yielded to the realization that I had observed a molting, male scarlet tanager. Bright red with black wings when they arrive in the spring, males begin to molt in late July or August, before they leave for South America. During that molt, they retain their black wings but otherwise gradually transition to the olive-yellow plumage of females. The next spring, before they travel back to North America, male scarlet tanagers molt back to their striking red and black plumage.
Throughout the Northern Summer, scarlet tanagers are best found in tracts of deciduous forest, from the Midwest eastward to New England and the mid Atlantic region. They feed primarily on insects but may consume berries as well. These attractive songbirds are always of interest to birders but the molting males may confuse even the most experienced among us, myself included.
