Flame-colored Tanager (Piranga bidentata ), Madera Canyon

Madera Canyon

16 May 2005 photo by James Prudente

14 May 2005 digiscoped photo by David Stejskal.

Back for a third year of nesting, this male is part of one of the few "pure" pairings of Flame-colored Tanager ever in the state. Another "pure" pair nested unsuccessfully in Ramsey Canyon in the 1980s. Most Arizona pairings have been of Flame-colored with Western tanager (and even suspected with the less-similar Hepatic Tanager). This has resulted in the production of hybrid tanagers that may be mistaken for Flame-colored Tanagers. One hybrid is illustrated in the Sibley Guide.