Late last night we went out to do barn chores, and I was surprised by a
flash of bright red when I went in the barn. I knew right away what it
was, but to put an end to my disbelief, I "had to" have a reality check.
So I quietly used the stairs to get a stationary look at him in the loft.
Sure enough, perched on a rafter was a beautiful adult male summer
tanager. It was apparently healthy and normal, except that it was
roosting in our barn!
The bird made no attempt to fly out of the barn; it's only movement was to
fly to another (farther) rafter when it got uncomfortable with my
presence. We left it alone, and during the 30 minutes we were there it
stayed put. When we left it seemed to be settled in for the night. I
have never heard of tanagers using a structure for anything, but this male
used our barn as a roost! I can't imagine why - it was a warm and muggy
night, and it had to share the shelter with house sparrows, toads and
mice. It seemed very unusual behavior for a tanager, but we welcomed his
company.
Although they nest nearby, we have not observed a summer tanager in our
yard since mid-May; It was gone when I checked this morning, but I'm
curious to see if it returns tonight.
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD |