FOLLY BEACH – A western tannery that is rarely seen in eastern Idaho befriended a group of finches and found a new home in Folly Beach.
Resident Nancy Young said the female has been nesting on her property for about two weeks, and she plans to track her visit while she remains.
Young, who is new to the Charleston area, said that when she moved to Folly Beach there were many birds around her property that she did not know how to identify. She started paying more attention to them and putting feeders around the house.
Soon after, a new bird joined the group of finches in its yard and stood out from the rest.
Young noticed that this particular bird had distinct marks on its wings and back.
“Whenever I tried to take a closer look, she flew, and then, suddenly, I could see her beautiful yellow belly,” said Young. “And then I keep thinking, ‘What in the world could that be?’ “
It took Young about 10 days to get a picture of the bird and share it with groups of birds online. Her hope was that someone would help her identify him. Some people said it was a tannery, others thought it might be a Baltimore parrot.
But that particular bird in Young’s yard had a yellow beak, which is not characteristic of a Baltimore parrot. The bird was finally determined to be a western tanager, a species belonging to the cardinal family.
These birds normally breed on the west coast and migrate to parts of Central and South America in the spring. But sometimes the weather takes them off course, said Nicole Marie Pettinelli, a local naturalist.
Pettinelli, who heads the Charleston Bird Club, said that a handful of western tanagers are often seen each winter in the Lowcountry. In the past, people reported them in West Ashley, Mount Pleasant and North Charleston. But so far, Young’s bird is the only one to be reported this year, Pettinelli said.
Some western tanneries that make the journey to South Carolina end up returning to the state the following year.
“They have a positive experience and then come back,” said Pettinelli. “They remember that, so they come back. It is usually a young bird, and it is embedded in your mind. “
Young said he enjoyed watching the bird’s behavior and how it became more comfortable near the feeders over time. She tends to be very “airy” and travels to and from the property all day. It usually arrives at the feeder in the morning before finches.
When the bird arrived, she ate tallow. But now she is eating a lot more seeds, said Young.
Young said he believes these eating habits could be a good sign that the bird is planning to stick around.
eBird, an online bird watching community run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, asked Young to track down the rare discovery while it is on his property.
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