Male Western Tanager close up – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Two days ago I had the opportunity to photograph a male Western Tanager up close in the foothills of some of the sky island mountains in the West Desert of Utah. I’ve seen Western Tanagers on all three of my recent trips to the West Desert.
This was the closest I’ve been able to get to these flame colored birds recently that can be so bright they cause retinal damage. I’m just kidding about the retinal damage but not about how bright the males are. These birds are unmistakable.
I had switched from my Nikon D500 to my Nikon D810 because of the problems I was having with the D500 and hadn’t switched my D810 to FX mode (full frame) instead of DX mode (cropped mode). If I had been in FX mode I would have been able to get the whole body of the tanager in the frame. If I had been just a bit farther away from him that would have helped too. The tanager was perched on a wire fence right next to the dusty dirt road.
I hope the tanagers stick around and allow me the opportunity to take more and better photos of them out west and in the Wasatch and/or Uinta Mountain ranges this summer.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Western Tanager photos plus facts and information about this species.
Wow! What a knockout pic! The Tanager’s rich colors and the detail you captured are nothing short of perfect. Thanks Mia.
WHAT a beauty. Thank you.
Lovely! It always interests me on the varying amount of red they sport during breeding season, some birds have less red, a bit on the top of the head and under the beak and other birds are covered from nape to chest in red. The red is due to foods they eat. Western Tanagers in captivity have to be fed foods with rhodoxanthin, in order to develop the red head in breeding plumage, otherwise they will only be a rich yellow with a greyer head. But my long time questing is this, Is the amount of red a variable with the amount of rhodoxanthin they have eaten with in one years time or does rhodoxanthin build up in the birds system by retaining the chemical thus with age creating a redder head in older birds?
Great shot, Mia. Have you considered switching to a mirrorless camera system. I use a Nikon D850 and am pondering switching.
They remind me of little parrots.
I have one in my yard last year for a couple of hours. A rarity here.
Your images are amazing as usual.
Thank you for sharing them with us.
Gorgeous!!!