The tiny bird, thousands of miles from its home, was blown off course by a storm during its annual migration, say experts. <\/p>
The residents of a quiet cul-de-sac in a village just outside Bradford in West Yorkshire were sent into a flutter this week by the arrival of a rare bird\u00a0followed by\u00a0hundreds of ardent birdwatchers.<\/strong><\/p> A\u00a0Scarlet Tanager, a bird normally seen on migration at this time of year between\u00a0northern and eastern North America\u00a0and\u00a0Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador in South America, had chosen to rest for a while in a suburban British garden\u00a0in Shelf.<\/p> The\u00a0young male, that weighed possibly only 30 grams,\u00a0had been blown off course by the strong prevailing winds following recent storms in the Atlantic.\u00a0<\/p> Such\u00a0arrivals\u00a0are rare\u00a0in the UK\u00a0\u2013 the last Scarlet Tanager to be seen anywhere in\u00a0this country was 10 years ago and,\u00a0according to\u00a0Bird Guides,<\/em>\u00a0there have only ever been eight recorded sightings previously.<\/p> One was on\u00a0the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides<\/a>\u00a0in 2014\u00a0and\u00a0an earlier one\u00a0in Cornwall<\/a>. To have made it all the way to Shelf this little bird\u00a0must have crossed the country unseen at night.<\/p> Female birds and\u00a0young males\u00a0such as this one\u00a0can be quite\u00a0hard to\u00a0see, high in the trees\u00a0in their usual forest habitat,\u00a0because\u00a0their plumage is yellowish-green with dark brown-green wings\u00a0that blends perfectly into their surroundings.<\/p> Mature males are\u00a0much\u00a0showier\u00a0birds with blood-red bodies and jet-black wings (above)\u00a0to attract the attention of females.\u00a0<\/p> The\u00a0much patchier\u00a0foliage of\u00a0a Yorkshire<\/a>\u00a0garden\u00a0put the bird handily in view for the many\u00a0eagle-eyed birders, some of whom\u00a0had travelled\u00a0from as far away as Devon <\/a>just to catch a glimpse of it.<\/p> Despite the name,\u00a0Scarlet Tanagers are\u00a0actually classed in the cardinal family of American songbirds, rather than the tanager\u00a0family.\u00a0<\/p> Scarlet Tanagers are insect feeders in the main, although they will eat fruit, molluscs and earthworms if their preferred prey is in short supply.<\/p> They\u00a0employ a hunting style\u00a0called\u00a0\u2018sallying\u2019\u00a0– perching\u00a0on a high branch and darting\u00a0out to\u00a0snatch\u00a0airborne\u00a0insects\u00a0and return to the\u00a0perch.\u00a0If they catch a bee, wasp\u00a0or hornet\u00a0the birds rub the prey\u2019s\u00a0bodies\u00a0along\u00a0tree bark\u00a0to remove their stings before\u00a0consuming\u00a0them.<\/p> Like our own Meadow Pipets<\/a> and Reed Warbler<\/a>s, Scarlet Tanagers\u2019 nests\u00a0in their US and Canadian breeding grounds\u00a0are invaded by\u00a0another bird species\u00a0seeking a\u00a0host\u00a0for\u00a0their eggs.<\/p>
What do Scarlet Tanagers look like?<\/h2>
What do Scarlet Tanagers eat?<\/h2>