Attracting Tanagers

In spring and summer if you are fortunate enough to have a tanager in the trees near you, try putting out fruit, such as sliced apple, pieces of bananas, cherries and pieces of raisin. Also try suet and suet mixtures, white bread and butter, peanut hearts and sunflower seeds. The higher you are able to place these foods, the better. This brilliant red and black summer visitor prefers heights. Try a second-story window feeder, though you may have luck with a first-story feeder or a table feeder.

Tanagers eat quietly in one place for a long time. If there is a nest nearby, the parents may carry off food to the young. Later the young may appear along with the parents at a feeder.

You can also try hanging a coconut half to attract tanagers. Turn an eye screw into the interior center of the coconut bottom and attach a hanging chain or cord to the eye screw. When purchasing a coconut, make sure it has a cut in the shell all the way around. This makes it very easy to crack open and to drain the milk. Coconut meat is about 57% fat and birds love fat. When they finish eating the coconut, leave the shell in use as a hanging feeder and fill it with seed or chopped fruit.