summer tanager

American  

[suhm-er tan-uh-jer] / ˈsʌm ər ˈtæn ə dʒər /

noun

1. an American songbird, Piranga rubra, the male of which is bright red: recently classified as a member of the cardinal family rather than the tanager family, the summer tanager breeds in the southern and central United States and migrates as far south as northern South America.

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Etymology

Origin of summer tanager

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85

Example Sentences

In the Southern States, one of the most familiar birds in the orange groves, orchards, and woods of pine and oak, is the summer tanager, another smooth-headed redbird, but without a black feather on him.

From Birds Every Child Should Know by Blanchan, Neltje

There were red cardinal-birds; and we saw another red bird also, a summer tanager.

From A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open by Roosevelt, Theodore

Here and there a crimson cardinal, crest lifted, sat singing deliciously on some green bough; now and then a summer tanager dropped like a live coal into the deeper jungle.

From The Firing Line by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)

Under them was a neglected orange grove, and in one of the orange-trees, amid the glossy foliage, appeared my first summer tanager.

From A Florida Sketch-Book by Torrey, Bradford