Once the prey has been caught, the tanager takes the insect back to its' perch and beats it against the perch until it dies. By wiping wasps on a branch before eating them, the tanager removes the stingers. Reproduction Summer tanagers are serially monogamous, that is, they keep one mate throughout each breeding season, but not necessarily in successive seasons. The pair-bond usually breaks after the young disperse late in the breeding season. Male summer tanagers arrive on the breeding grounds in full song, usually a few days before females arrive.
Courtship begins with frequent, sudden, energetic chases of the female by the male.
Not much else is known about summer tanager courtship. Nest building begins 2-4 weeks after the birds arrive on the breeding grounds in spring. The nest is usually built out on a horizontal branch about 2.5-10.5 m from the ground. The female builds the nest alone, though she is usually accompanied by the male while searching for a site and suitable nest-building materials. The nest is constructed primarily of dried herbaceous vegetation, and lined with fine grasses.