Folks,
At the NE edge of Seahurst Park this morning..........a group of mostly
male Western Tanagers with a very few females traveling with them plus a
single female Black-headed Grosbeak. Most of the birds seemed to be
foraging ravenously! I noticed that all these males had limited and not
richly bright red areas on their heads. The yellow plumage was extremely
bright. I'm assuming that perhaps these were first year males? I have
seen what might be termed 'prime' (bright red totally covering the head)
male Western Tanagers migrating through this area, usually as singles,
variously over past years. I know that many species migrate according to
age and gender.

This was an interesting observation of what appeared to be a relatively
same age group of male tanagers.....or perhaps they were equally deficient
in the particular nutrients, carotenes?, that contribute to red color
intensity and extensiveness of coverage. I'm sure there are research
reports in the literature that address this issue in depth.

Cheers to all, me2
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Maureen Ellis, PhD, Research Scientist
Toxicology Group at Roos 1, 284A
Lab/Office phone: 206-685-1938
Dept of Environmental Health, Mailstop 354695
School of Public Health and Community Medicine
University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195

E-Mail: me2 at u.washington.edu
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"Why are we now traveling into space? Why, indeed, did we trouble to look
past the next mountain? Our prime obligation to ourselves is to make the
unknown known. We are on a journey to keep an appointment with whatever
we are."_____Gene Roddenberry