Flame-colored Tanager (Piranga bidentata), Miller Canyon, Cochise County

This male Flame-colored Tanager was seen by Craig Robson, Heidi Doman and others above the second stream crossing past the Beattys in Miller Canyon.  It was associating with what appeared to be a female Western or Western x Flame-coloured Tanager. They were mobbing a roosting Spotted Owl.  The Flame-colored Tanager was photographed by Craig Robson on 27 May 2009.

Flame-colored Tanager is very rare in the Sky Islands and has been recorded previously in the Chiricahuas, Huachucas and Santa Ritas. This summer it has been documented in all three of those mountain ranges.  Miller Canyon is one of the best locations for this species.  It has bred several times in Arizona and been observed to hybridize with Western Tanagers.

27 May 2009, photo by Craig Robson

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