Bird Discovered at KY State Park Came From South America — Here’s How They Know

Somewhere, there's a book that contains information about and pictures of every single bird you could find in North America, and then some. I bought it and gave it to Mom, but since she passed away three years ago, I've not seen it.

I've never been much of a birdwatcher, but I figured if I could make it a game--check off the birds as I see them--it would make it much more interesting. I should have thought of that when I knew where the book was. The bird at the heart of THIS story is IN that book (if I can ever find it). However, it was not IN this country until it was discovered at Taylorsville Lake State Park. It's called a summer tanager, and it's in the cardinal family so it may have felt right at home.

As far as their natural habitat is concerned, summer tanager are actually--and maybe quite literally--all over the map. They're found in the southeastern and southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. Additionally, they spend the winter in southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.

The summer tanager in question was spotted at Taylorsville Lake with a transmitter on its wing. Last February, a team from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center tagged it on a coffee farm in Colombia. The tanager's transmitter pinged two Costa Rican radio towers before going silent until its re-emergence at the park this summer.

Taylorsville Lake State Park's deciduous forests attracted the summer tanager, so that's something to keep in mind if you fancy yourself a birdwatcher.

Study up on the flora of our Kentucky state parks, and who knows what you'll discover?