Tanager?


(Iowa south of Amana)

We have 5 small birds smaller than a sparrow, the body is Gray and Brown on the back and wings but has red tints in it, the stomach is bright red (close to cardinal color - not Robin color). If I was rating it I'd say the bird was half red and 1/2 brown gray. No top notch like a cardinal. Head reminds me of a Chickadee but I'd say their size is larger than a Chickadee. Don't know what else to tell you, except since they've been around last summer and this spring we've had a lot of beautiful bird singing we've also had Cardinals too.

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Apr 22, 2015
 Replying about your Tanager Question
by: Laura Hess

Hi there. I don't think it's a Tanager. It sounds like a House Finch to me. Only the males have the red on them,the females look the same otherwise. They're mostly monogamous, so within the group you'll very often see the same male/female pairs.Like anything with color, some males have more and/or brighter red on him. Look up House Finches and see if that's what you've seen. Hope this helps! :-)

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