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Saturday, March 27, 2010

3rd Grade Ornithologists Report

Michael Castellana, in Mrs. McQuiston's third grade class did some research on the Scarlet Tanager after our bird walk on Friday. He sent his report to me and kindly gave me permission to post it on my blog. He included photographs of the male and female Tanager, but I have had difficulty posting those. I will work on that and hopefully will be able to include the two photographs in the post in the future.

Here is the report Michael sent:

Scarlet Tanager
Size: 7” (18 cm)
Male: Bright scarlet red bird with jet pack wings and tail. Ivory bill and dark eyes.
Female: Drap greenish yellow bird with olive wings and tail, whitish wing linings, dark eyes.
Juvenile: Same as female.
Nest: Platform; female builds; 1 brood per year.
Eggs: 4-5; blue green with brown markings.
Incubation: 13-14 days; female incubates.
Fledging: 9-11 days; female and male feed young.
Migration: Complete, to Central and South America.
Food: Insects, fruit.
Compare: Male Northern Cardinal has a black mask and red bill and lacks the black wings of male Scarlet Tanager.