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Rare Western Tanager (continues)

The rare Western Tanager continues to delight to many area birders. It's snowing today, so we will see what affect it has on this tropical weather loving bird.

Uploaded on Jan 21, 2012

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Western Tanager ~Very Rare

A very rare visitor to my state (N.J.).
Many thanks to Sam G. and the New Jersey Bird Records Committee for informing birders about this rare find.

Cool eBird fact: The red pigment in the face of the Western Tanager is rhodoxanthin, a pigment rare in birds. It is not manufactured by the bird, as are the pigments used by the other red tanagers. Instead, it must be acquired from the diet, presumably from insects that themselves acquire the pigment from plants.

Uploaded on Jan 19, 2012

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