The Story
This juvenile Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) was at Entreaguas Reserva Natural in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia when I photographed it. It builds a cup nest on a horizontal tree branch, about 1 to 14 meters off the ground. It often forages out of sight high in trees, sometimes flying out to catch insects in flight. It mainly eats insects but regularly adds fruit to its diet. It breeds across the southern United States and northern Mexico. The reserve lies in the Coello-Cocora area west of Ibagué, on the way toward Cajamarca, and its trails pass a series of waterfalls.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, −1 EV. IUCN lists the Summer Tanager as Least Concern, with an increasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) belongs to the family Cardinalidae (Cardinals and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List