Summer
Tanager, Piranga rubra
I shot this through an imperfectly transparent window in a blind, hence the gray discolorations. Summer Tanagers, like the other North American "tanagers" of genus Piranga, have been recently determined to be more closely related to the cardinalids (Cardinals, Black-headed and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo and Lazuli Buntings) than to the true tanagers of Central and South America.
Summer Tanagers are rare in Northern California; the one shown above and below attracted
a lot of attention at a popular birding spot in Santa Cruz in September 2008.
