Summer tanager

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 22, 2021.


A rare visitor to our area and a bonus at our water feature.
Piranga rubra
The Summer Tanager is a bee and wasp specialist. It catches these insects in flight and kills them by beating them against a branch. Before eating a bee, the tanager rubs it on the branch to remove the stinger. Summer Tanagers eat larvae, too: first they get rid of the adults, and then they tear open the nest to get the grubs.
Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

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