This was a new bird to me, so I looked it up: it’s a Western Tanager.
He’s in full mating plumage with a bright red head. “In non-breeding plumage, the head has no more than a reddish cast and the body has an olive tinge.” He doesn’t synthesize that red color; it comes from his diet. “The red pigment in the face of the Western Tanager is rhodoxanthin, a pigment rare in birds. It is not manufactured by the bird, as are the pigments used by the other red tanagers. Instead, it must be acquired from the diet, presumably from insects that themselves acquire the pigment from plants.”
Meanwhile, the new directive for ADHD is to remove all additives and artificial colorants from the diet as a first step… so when I look at this bird who makes his head red in the spring by eating the right bugs, I can’t help but wonder what he could do with a box of strawberry jello.
Was ADHD around before all the overly processed food and additives? And, what a beautiful bird. I have a pr of orioles nesting in my yard this year. And, my catbirds are back every year. They love grape jelly! Have a wonderful day off tomorrow!
Orioles! What a treat!
Maybe Alice ‘Photoshopped’ that bird (is that a new verb???). Okay, just kidding, the bird is gorgeous and your photos are great - I love looking at them. No Western Tanangers in southeast MI that I know of.
MV Pat - you are lucky witht he orioles & how do you know that catbirds love grape jelly? That must be an interesting story!
Barb, I did photoshop this photo. I decreased the shadows and increased their tonal width; I increased the highlights and decreased their tonal width; I increased the midtone contrast. Then I increased the saturation, the contrast and the brightness. I think I sharpened the photo, put on a warm filter, and cropped it. I probably shifted the magenta/green balance, and played with the radius of the shadows (whatever that is). I was trying to get that translucent quality in the gambel oak leaves. And if the bird had looked weird after getting the leaves to look nice, then I would have played with it some more.