Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), Sonoran Desert, Arizona. The Western Tanager is 6-7 inches in length. The male has a bright red head, a yellow body and black wings. It can be found in the western United States and Canada. It breeds from southern Alaska and the Northwest Territories of Canada south through the western United States. The Western Tanager is a long-distance migrator. Every year it travels between its wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America to its breeding grounds in western North America.