western tanager

[ wes-tern tan-uh-jer ]

noun

1. an American songbird, Piranga ludoviciana, the male of which has a reddish orange head and a yellow neck: recently classified as a member of the cardinal family rather than the tanager family, the western tanager breeds in the western United States, from southern Alaska to the Mexican border, and migrates as far south as Costa Rica.

Word History and Origins

Origin of western tanager¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Tanagers are, for some reason, referred to as scarlet tanager songbird and western tanager songbird.

From The Guardian

We have just watched the annual migration of the western tanager.

From Scientific American

Red-breasted nuthatch, spotted towhee, varied thrush, northern saw-whet owl, American robin, cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, American goldfinch and western tanager — I see them all here in the Fraser River estuary.

From New York Times