The winters of 2013 and 2014 were a little tougher than the previous several years, and spring arrived late. Maybe that caused some changes in behavior.

I had never seen a tanager before they showed up in the yard in the spring of 2013. The males hung out for about a week. The female stayed for an extra five days or so. They ate a lot from the nut cakes in the feeder.

Since then, I haven't seen them on the feeders. But they still occasionally stop by during migration. By the time they come back in the fall, the males have traded their red color for yellow.