Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Summer Tanager

Pik-a-tuck or picky-tucky

Solitary in upper canopies, this bee and wasp connoisseur will prefer pine and upland mixed forest, though it likes lower and more open forest than the Scarlet Tanager.

Males are strikingly beautiful with strawberry coloring, while females are mustard yellow.  Their specific coloring is dependent upon their diet.   These birds are in the cardinal family, yet they lack the conical bill.  They sound somewhat similar to the American Robin.

                                                             Male Summer Tanager
                                                              High Island,TX 2015

The summer redbirds will sally insects similar to a flycatcher, and they pursue nearly any stinging insect.  Their favorite trees are oak and pine, which attract many insects, so they will creep along on branches seeking same.

Flimsy cup nests are built upon horizon branches, distant from the trunk of the tree.  Usually four eggs are incubated solely by the female.  Beebirds are single brooded with an incubation period of about eleven or twelve days.  The female broods, but both sexes feed the young.

                                                          Female Summer Tanager
                                                           Santa Cruz County, AZ

Both birds keep in contact with one another by uttering clicks, very much like the Northern Cardinal.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Yellow Warbler

Sweet-sweet-sweet-little more sweet!

Familiar sounds from a familiar bird that is seen early for migration, many times in late July or August.  Wet brushy habitats (second growth) will assure your success on viewing this little beauty, especially around willow and cottonwood thickets, as well as orchards and hedgerows.

Present in most of the country in spring or fall, the Yellow Warbler will be certain to please you with its lovely song and characteristic demeanor.  It forages on stems and leaves of trees and bushes.  Males will forage higher than females, who seen to prefer a more laid back style of gleaning their insects and spiders.

                             
                                                                 Male Yellow Warbler
                                                  in breeding plumage, Boomer Lake Park

This wood warbler arrives on the breeding ground is late April or May.  Though a rare breeder in Oklahoma, it will breed occasionally in the north central or northeast portions of the state.   The Brown-headed Cowbird parasitizes many of this species, yet it remains plentiful.  The warbler simply builds a second tier upon the nest, lays more eggs, and goes about its business, sometimes as many as six times.

They have one or two broods a year, and the monogamous pair build a cup nest of grass, moss, lichen and spider silk lined with softer material.  This can be found in an upturned tree fork or in a dense shrub or bush.  Females will sometimes help themselves to nest material from other nests, taking about four days to manage construction.  The male does little to contribute to this endeavor, and he will even feed young occasionally.  He is busy protecting the female, nest, and territory from interlopers.

                                                          Female Yellow Warbler
                                                    Boomer Lake Park--Heron Cove

The species has simple needs for territory.  It only requires about a half acre of real estate, high singing posts, sufficient foraging areas, and plenty of concealment.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Orchard Oriole

The Orchard Oriole (an icterid) is a blackbird, as many other birds that sport black in their coloring.  They are uncommon in areas with isolated tall trees or where there are scattered shade trees, orchards, parks, and farmsteads.  Grasslands will also be considered if suitable nest sites are in the vicinity.  They prefer being in habitats with water, a solitary species, and glean insects and larvae and will take fruit and nectar at birdfeeders.  They are also attracted by trumpet shaped flowers for nectar.

A deep russet or burnt orange color, the male will sing at treetops to attract the yellow-green female, and is the smallest of the orioles.  Females make themselves attractive to males by head bowing, begging with rapid wing fluttering and a high whistle, and seesawing by alternately lowering and raising the head and tail.

                                                                     Male Orchard Oriole
                                                                       Boomer Lake Park

Experienced males will reach the breeding grounds first, followed by females, then the first year males.  These passerines do not compete with the Baltimore Oriole, possibly considering it an ally.  They will share large trees (oaks) with Eastern Kingbirds, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, American Robins, and other birds.

                                                               Juvenile Orchard Oriole
                                                                     Boomer Lake Park

Nests average about twenty feet high in crotches or forks of broadleafed trees, but willows or cottonwoods may also be used due to good shade.  It is a hanging basket made of woven fibers, but tends to be wider than deeper than the Baltimore Oriole.  They are single brooded, breeding from May through July in Oklahoma.

Females will occasionally be confused with New World Warblers, especially if the tail has been lost due to a predator's action.

                                                              Female Orchard Oriole
                                                                  Boomer Lake Park

The Unusual Andean Cock-of-the-Rock

The Andean Cock-of-the-Rock is the national bird of Peru, which is not to be confused with the Guinean Cock-of-the-Rock.  Not only is the red-orange color exquisite, but the males also have a fan shaped crest.

Shy birds by nature, this cloud forest dweller gathers with other males on communal leks, or courtship sites, to entice females and challenge other males.  The females spend their time on the nests incubating eggs on rock faces, under bridges, or cave entrances, solely building nests and rearing the young.  Nests are located near the lek sites.

It is possible to find these birds eating fruit at trees away from the lek, but they also consume army ants, amphibians, lizards, and occasionally, rodents.

These passerines reside in the Andean cloud forests of Boliva, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.  It is also a bird of least concern, and is visible between 0.3 mile and 1.5 miles in elevation.  The species is also dimorphic, with the female a rust colored version of the male, who has a bright orange coloring and a half moon-shaped crest.