Paul Bystrak wrote:
"I've never heard of a summer tanager at a feeder before, but if anyone has,
I'd be interested in knowing what else he might want to eat."

I have yet to see a Summer Tanager at a feeder of any kind, but I am aware
of a number of recent instances of them at feeders during winter in the
Northeast. Summer Tanagers have wintered or nearly overwintered in New
Jersey, Ontario, and Massachusetts over the last five or six years. It seems
the species may be developing a taste for suet and sunflower seed. Western
Tanagers have been attending feeders for years, with one wintering on Cape
Cod last winter, and a Scarlet Tanager showed up at a feeder last December
on Cape Cod. Given tanagers are at least part-time fruit eaters maybe the
seed diet is not so odd after all, nonetheless their habits appear to be
changing.

Good Birding,

Walter Ellison

23460 Clarissa Road
Chestertown, MD 21620
phone: 410-778-9568
e-mail: 

"A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B.
White (in "Stuart Little")

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