ML620341480

Age and sex

Adult Male - 1

Behaviors

Courtship, display, or copulation

Observation details

While watching the Western Bluebird nest, I witnessed a Western Tanager courtship from less than twenty feet away. Male landed, maybe a foot from ground level, in a shrubby cedar. He was moving his tail and head up and down, while shaking his wings like a fledgling begging for food. The female was higher in the bush watching this display, and several times the male would hop to a different perch and she would follow him. After a minute or so of this behavior the two moved on to where I could no longer see them. Full bold red head ruled out the possibility of it being a young tanager just begging for food from a parent. Photos. I am very excited to document this behavior; there is little documentation of Western Tanager courtship that I can find, online or in print sources. I only wish I had been able to watch them longer and perhaps to take a video! Also, neither Tanager made vocalizations during this time. I unfortunately could not obtain a photo of the female.

Technical information

Model

iPhone 8

Lens

iPhone 8 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8

ISO

250

Focal length

4 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/1.8

Shutter speed

1/60 sec

Dimensions

1163 pixels x 1551 pixels

Original file size

450.44 KB