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Westminster Cathedral

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, known as Westminster Cathedral, is the largest Roman Catholic church in England and Wales and the seat of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster.

The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of Westminster was purchased by the Diocese of Westminster in 1885, and construction was completed in 1903.

Designed by John Francis Bentley in a 9th century Christian neo-Byzantine style, and accordingly made almost entirely of brick, without steel reinforcements, Sir John Betjeman called it "a masterpiece in striped brick and stone" that shows "the good craftsman has no need of steel or concrete."

History
In the late 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church's hierarchy had only recently been restored in England and Wales, and it was in memory of Cardinal Wiseman (who died in 1865, and was the first Archbishop of Westminster from 1850) that the first substantial sum of money was raised for the new cathedral. The land was acquired in 1884 by Wiseman's successor, Cardinal Manning, having previously been occupied by the second Tothill Fields Bridewell prison.

After two false starts in 1867 (under architect Henry Clutton) and 1892 (architect Baron von Herstel), construction started in 1895 under Manning's successor, the third archbishop, Cardinal Vaughan, with John Francis Bentley as architect, and built in a style heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture. The cost of the building was anticipated at £150,000 and its area 54,000 sq ft, the cathedral to be 350 ft long by 156 ft wide by 90 ft high.

The foundation stone blessing by Cardinal Vaughan took place on a Saturday morning, June 29, 1895, before a "distinguished" gathering. After the "recitation of the Litanies, Cardinal Logue celebrated Low Mass coram episcopo. A procession composed of Benedictines, Franciscans, Jesuits, Passionists, Dominicans, Redemptorists, and secular clergy made the circuit of the grounds. The choir, directed by the Rev. Charles Cox, rendered, among other pieces, Webbe's 'O Roma Felix' and 'O Salutaris'. At the luncheon which followed, the speakers included Cardinal Vaughan, Cardinal Logue, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Acton, Henry Matthews MP, Lord Edmund Talbot, and Sir Donald Macfarlane."

The cathedral opened in 1903, a year after Bentley's death. One of the first public liturgies to be celebrated in the cathedral was Cardinal Vaughan's Requiem Mass; the Cardinal died on 19 June 1903. When the debt on the building fund was liquidated, consecration ceremony took place on 28 June 1910 Under the laws of the Catholic Church, no place of worship could be consecrated unless free from debt.

The decoration of the interior had hardly been started at the time of consecration, as the decoration in Byzantine churches is applied, rather than integral to the architecture. Therefore finishing the decoration of the cathedral was left to the subsequent generations. It is an architectural gem with its interior notable for rich marble decorations and the beautiful, but still incomplete, mosaics.

In 1895, the cathedral was dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is indicated by the Latin dedication above the portal arch: Domine Jesus Rex et Redemptor per Sanguinem tuum salva nos (English translation: "Lord Jesus, King and Redeemer, heal us through your blood"). The additional patrons are St Mary, the mother of Jesus, St Joseph, his foster father, and St Peter, his vicar. The cathedral also has numerous secondary patrons: St Augustine and all British saints, St Patrick and all saints of Ireland. The Feast of the Dedication of the Cathedral is celebrated each year on 1 July, which from 1849 until 1969 was the feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1977, as part of her Silver Jubilee Celebrations, Queen Elizabeth II visited the cathedral to view a flower show.

On 28 May 1982, the first day of his six-day pastoral visit to the United Kingdom, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in the cathedral.

On St Andrew's Day (30 November) 1995, at the invitation of Basil Cardinal Hume, Queen Elizabeth again visited the cathedral but this time she attended Choral Vespers, the first participation of the Queen in a Roman Catholic church liturgy in Great Britain.

On 18 September 2010, on the third day of his four-day state visit to the United Kingdom, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in the cathedral.

In January 2011 the cathedral was the venue for the reception and later ordination of three former Anglican bishops into the newly formed Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

In 2012, the cathedral was the host of two episodes of the BBC Four three-part documentary series named Catholics: the first episode looked at women who attend and/or work at the cathedral and their faith, and the third episode looked at the men training to become priests at Allen Hall seminary, and in the episode was a brief scene of their ordination at the cathedral.

In May 2021, during the Covid Pandemic and the banning of public mass, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds were wed at the Cathedral.

Architecture
Westminster Cathedral is the 50th largest church in the world in terms of interior area (5,017m²), seating up to 2,000 people. It is the 38th largest Catholic church globally in terms of interior area.

The whole building, in the neo-Byzantine style, covers a floor area of about 5017 m2; the dominating factor of the scheme, apart from the campanile, being a spacious and uninterrupted nave, 18 m wide and 70 m long from the narthex to the sanctuary steps, covered with domical vaulting.

In planning the nave, a system of supports was adopted not unlike that to be seen in most Gothic cathedrals, where huge, yet narrow, buttresses are projected at intervals, and stiffened by transverse walls, arcading and vaulting. Unlike in a Gothic cathedral, at Westminster they are limited to the interior. The main piers and transverse arches that support the domes divide the nave into three bays, each about 395 m2. The domes rest on the arches at a height of 27 m from the floor, the total internal height being 34 m.

In selecting the pendentive type of dome, of shallow concavity, for the main roofing, weight and pressure have been reduced to a minimum. The domes and pendentures are formed of concrete, and as extraneous roofs of timber were dispensed with, it was necessary to provide a thin independent outer shell of impervious stone. The concrete flat roofing around the domes is covered with asphalt. The sanctuary is essentially Byzantine in its system of construction. The extensions that open out on all sides make the corona of the dome seem independent of support.

The eastern termination of the cathedral suggests the Romanesque, or Lombardic style of Northern Italy. The crypt with openings into the sanctuary, thus closely following the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan, the open colonnade under the eaves, the timber roof following the curve of the apex, are all familiar features. The large buttresses resist the pressure of a vault 14.5 m in span. Although the cruciform plan is not very noticeable inside the building, it is emphasised outside by the boldly projecting transepts. These with their twin gables, slated roofs, and square turrets with pyramidal stone cappings suggest a Norman prototype in striking contrast to the rest of the design.

The main structural parts of the building are of brick and concrete, the latter material being used for the vaulting and domes of graduated thickness and complicated curve. Following Byzantine tradition, the interior was designed with a view to the application of marble and mosaic. Throughout the exterior, the lavish introduction of white stone bands in connection with the red brickwork (itself quite common in the immediate area) produces an impression quite foreign to the British eye. The bricks were hand-moulded and delivered by Faversham Brickfields at Faversham in Kent and Thomas Lawrence Brickworks in Bracknell. The main entrance façade owes its composition, in a measure, to accident rather than design. The most prominent feature of the façade is the deeply recessed arch over the central entrance, flanked by tribunes, and stairway turrets. The elevation on the north, with a length of nearly 91.5 m contrasted with the vertical lines of the campanile and the transepts, is most impressive. It rests on a continuous and plain basement of granite, and only above the flat roofing of the chapels does the structure assume a varied outline.

Marble columns, with capitals of Byzantine type, support the galleries and other subsidiary parts of the building. The marble selected for the columns was, in some instances, obtained from formations quarried by the ancient Romans, chiefly in Greece.

High altar
The central feature of the decoration in the cathedral is the baldacchino over the high altar. This is one of the largest structures of its kind, the total width being 9.5 m, and the height 11.5 m. The upper part of white marble is richly inlaid with coloured marbles, lapis lazuli, pearl, and gold. Eight columns of yellow marble, from Verona, support the baldacchino over the high altar, and others, white and pink, from Norway, support the organ galleries.

Behind the baldacchino the crypt emerges above the floor of the sanctuary, and the podium thus formed is broken in the middle by the steps that lead up to the retro-choir. The curved wall of the crypt is lined with narrow slabs of green carystran marble. Opening out of this crypt is a smaller chamber, directly under the high altar. Here are laid the remains of the first two Archbishops of Westminster, Cardinal Wiseman and Cardinal Manning. The altar and relics of Saint Edmund of Canterbury occupy a recess on the south side of the chamber. The little chapel of Saint Thomas of Canterbury, entered from the north transept, is used as a chantry for Cardinal Vaughan. A large Byzantine style crucifix, suspended from the sanctuary arch, dominates the nave.

Chapels
The chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, on the north side of the sanctuary, and the Lady Chapel on the south, are entered from the transepts; they are 6.7 m (22 ft) wide, lofty, with open arcades, barrel vaulting, and apsidal ends. Over the altar of the Blessed Sacrament chapel a small baldacchino is suspended from the vault, and the chapel is enclosed with bronze grilles and gates through which people may enter. In the Lady Chapel the walls are clad in marble and the altar reredos is a mosaic of the Virgin and Child, surrounded by a white marble frame. The conches of the chapel contain predominantly blue mosaics of the Old Testament prophets Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Unlike the Blessed Sacrament chapel, the chapel dedicated to the Blessed Mother is completely open. The building of the Lady Chapel was funded by Baroness Weld in memory of her second husband.

Those chapels which may be entered from the aisles of the nave are also 6.7 m wide, and roofed with simple barrel vaulting. The chapel of Saints Gregory and Augustine, next to the baptistery, from which it is separated by an open screen of marble, was the first to have its decoration completed. The marble lining of the piers rises to the springing level of the vaulting and this level has determined the height of the altar reredos, and of the screen opposite. On the side wall, under the windows, the marble dado rises to but little more than half this height. From the cornices the mosaic decoration begins on the walls and vault. This general arrangement applies to all the chapels yet each has its own distinct artistic character. Thus, in sharp contrast to the chapel dedicated to St. Gregory and St. Augustine which contains vibrant mosaics, the chapel of the Holy Souls employs a more subdued, almost funereal style, decoration with late Victorian on a background of silver.

As in many Catholic churches, there are the Stations of the Cross to be found along the outer aisles. The ones at Westminster Cathedral are by the sculptor Eric Gill, and are considered to be amongst the finest examples of his work.

Mosaics
When the cathedral's architect John Bentley died, there were no completed mosaics in the cathedral and Bentley left behind precious little in terms of sketches and designs. Consequently, the subject and styles of the mosaics were influenced by donors as well as designers, overseen by a cathedral committee established for this purpose. Indeed, Bentley's influence is, in reality, only seen in the chapel dedicated to the Holy Souls. Due to the prevailing absence of any real designs by Bentley, there was no real agreement as to how the mosaics should look, and in one instance, works already installed (in the Sacred Heart shrine) were removed after the death of the artist, George Bridge.

Mosaics installed during the period 1912–1916 were mostly done by devotees of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Those in the Lady Chapel were installed by the experienced mosaicist Gertrude Martin (who had worked with George Bridge), in 1912–1913. The work was supervised by Anning Bell and Marshall, who later designed the mosaic of Christ enthroned which is above the entrance to the cathedral. The Tympanum of the portal shows in a Byzantine mosaic technique from left to right the kneeling St Peter with the Keys of Heaven, the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ as Pantocrator on the throne, St Joseph, the Nursing Father of Jesus with a lily in his right hand, and in a kneeling position the canonized English King Edward the Confessor in royal regalia. As Jesus Christ blesses the viewer with his right hand, he holds in his left hand the Book of Life. The Latin inscription of the opened book pages reads: Ego sum ostium per me si quis introierit salvabitur (I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved; Gospel of John 10,9).

The mosaics in the chapel dedicated to Saint Andrew, paid for by The 4th Marquess of Bute, also belong to work of the Arts and Craft Movement.

The five-year period 1930 to 1935 saw a tremendous amount of work done, with mosaics placed in the Lady Chapel, in the alcoves above the confessionals, in the crypt dedicated to Saint Peter, and on the sanctuary arch.

No new mosaics were installed until 1950 when one depicting St Thérèse of Lisieux (later replaced by a bronze) was placed in the south transept and another, in 1952, in memory of those in the Royal Army Medical Corps who died in World War II, in the chapel of Saint George. From 1960 to 1962, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was decorated in a traditional, early Christian style, with the mosaics being predominantly pale pink in order to afford a sense of light and space. The designer, Boris Anrep, chose various Eucharistic themes such as the sacrifice of Abel, the hospitality of Abraham and the gathering of the manna in the wilderness, as well as the Feeding the multitude and the Wedding Feast at Cana. In his old age, Anrep also acted as adviser and principal sketch artist for the mosaics installed in the chapel of Saint Paul (1964–1965). These mosaics depict various moments in the life of Paul; his occupation as a tent-maker, his conversion to Christ, the shipwreck on Malta and his eventual execution in Rome.

It was not until the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1982 that the next mosaic was installed above the north-west entrance. Rather than a scene, this mosaic is an inscription: Porta sis ostium pacificum per eum qui se ostium appellavit, Jesus Christum (May this door be the gate of peace through Him who called Himself the gate, Jesus Christ). In 1999, the mosaic of Saint Patrick, holding a shamrock and a pastoral staff as well as trampling on a snake, was installed at the entrance to the chapel in his honour. In 2001, a striking mosaic of Saint Alban, strongly influenced by the style of early Byzantine iconography, was installed by the designer, Christopher Hobbs. Due to the very favourable reception of the work, Hobbs was commissioned for further mosaics: the chapel to Saint Joseph which contains mosaics of the Holy Family (2003) and men working on Westminster Cathedral (2006). Hobbs also did the chapel in honour of Saint Thomas Becket illustrating the saint standing in front of the old Canterbury Cathedral on the chapel's east wall and the murder of Thomas on the west wall. The vault is decorated with a design of flowers, tendrils and roundels (2006). , there were plans for further mosaics, including depictions of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anthony in the narthex.

Music
Despite its relatively short history compared to other English cathedrals, Westminster has a distinguished choral tradition. It has its origin in the shared vision of Cardinal Vaughan, the cathedral's founder, and Sir Richard Runciman Terry, its inaugural Master of Music. Terry prepared his choristers for a year before their first sung service in public. For the remainder of his tenure (until 1924) he pursued a celebrated revival of great quantities of Latin repertoire from the English Renaissance, most of which had lain unsung ever since the Reformation. Students at the Royal College of Music who would become household names were introduced to their heritage when Charles Villiers Stanford sent them to the cathedral to hear "polyphony for a penny" (the bus fare). This programme also required honing the boys' sight-reading ability to a then-unprecedented standard.

The choir has commissioned many works from distinguished composers, many of whom are better known for their contribution to Anglican music, such as Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams. However, the choir is particularly renowned for its performance of Gregorian chant and polyphony of the Renaissance.

Unlike most other English cathedrals, Westminster does not have a separate quire; instead, the choir are hidden from view in the apse behind the high altar. This, with the excellent acoustic of the cathedral building, contributes to its distinctive sound.

Located in the west gallery, the Grand Organ of four manuals and 81 stops occupies a more commanding position than many British cathedral organs enjoy. Built by Henry Willis III from 1922 to 1932, it remains one of the most successful and admired. One of Louis Vierne's best-known organ pieces, "Carillon de Westminster", the final movement from Suite no. 3 (op. 54) of Pièces de Fantaisie, was originally improvised on it in 1924, and the subsequent 1927 published version is dedicated to Willis.

The apse organ of fifteen stops was built in 1910 by Lewis & Co. Although the Grand Organ has its own attached console, a console in the apse can play both instruments.

On 3 May 1902, some 3,000 people attended a concert of sacred music in the cathedral, organised to raise money for the Choir School and to test the acoustics in the building. The music was provided by an orchestra of a hundred and a choir of two hundred, including the Cathedral Choir, directed by Richard Terry. The programme included music by Wagner, Purcell, Beethoven, Palestrina, Byrd and Tallis. The acoustics proved to be excellent. One year later, on 6 June 1903, the first performance in London of The Dream of Gerontius, a poem by Cardinal John Henry Newman, set to music by Edward Elgar, took place in the cathedral. The composer himself conducted, with Richard Terry at the organ. Once again, the proceeds went to support the Cathedral Choir School.

John Tavener's The Beautiful Names, a setting of the 99 names of Allah found in the Qur'an, premièred in the cathedral on 19 June 2007, in a performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the presence of Charles, Prince of Wales.

Choir
The founder of Westminster Cathedral, Cardinal Herbert Vaughan laid great emphasis on the beauty and integrity of the cathedral's liturgy. Initially, he determined there should be a community of Benedictine monks at the new cathedral, performing the liturgies and singing the daily Office. This caused great resentment amongst the secular clergy of the diocese, who felt they were being snubbed. In the end, negotiations with both the English Benedictines and the community of French Benedictines at Farnborough failed and a traditional choir of men and boys was set up instead. Despite great financial problems, the Choir School opened on 5 October 1901 with eleven boy choristers, in the building originally intended for the monks. Cardinal Vaughan received the boys with the words "You are the foundation stones". The Cathedral Choir was officially instituted three months later in January 1902. Sung Masses and Offices were immediately established when the cathedral opened for worship in 1903, and have continued without interruption ever since.

In September 2020, Cardinal Vincent Nichols responded to a strategic review of sacred music at Westminster Cathedral, asking that "all those who profess to be fervent supporters of this precious inheritance of sacred music to become regular contributors to its financial support. It is, unquestionably, time to look ahead in order to ensure that this tradition of sacred music in Westminster Cathedral...can be put onto a firm footing for years to come."

When the question of a musical director was first considered, the choice fell on the singer Sir Charles Santley, who had conducted the choir of the pro-cathedral in Kensington on several occasions. But Santley knew his limitations and refused. Richard Runciman Terry—Director of Music at Downside Abbey School—then became the first director of music of Westminster Cathedral. It proved to be an inspired choice. Terry was both a brilliant choir trainer and a pioneering scholar, one of the first musicologists to revive the great works of the English and other European Renaissance composers. Terry built Westminster Cathedral Choir's reputation on performances of music—by Byrd, Tallis, Taverner, Palestrina and Victoria, among others—that had not been heard since the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and Mass at the cathedral was soon attended by inquisitive musicians as well as the faithful. The performance of great Renaissance Masses and motets in their proper liturgical context remains the cornerstone of the choir's activity.

Terry resigned in 1924, and was succeeded by Canon Lancelot Long who had been one of the original eleven choristers in 1901.

At the beginning of the Second World War, the boys were at first evacuated to Uckfield in East Sussex, but eventually the choir school was closed altogether for the remainder of the war. The music at the cathedral was performed by a reduced body of professional men singers. During this period, from 1941 to 1947, the Master of Music was William Hyde, who had been the sub-organist under Richard Terry.

Hyde was succeeded by George Malcolm, who developed the continental sound of the choir and consolidated its musical reputation—in particular through the now legendary recording of Victoria's Tenebrae responsories. More recent holders of the post have included Francis Cameron, Colin Mawby, Stephen Cleobury, David Hill, James O'Donnell and Martin Baker. In May 2021, Simon Johnson was appointed as the Master of Music.

In addition to its performances of Renaissance masterpieces, Westminster Cathedral Choir has given many first performances of music written especially for it by contemporary composers. Terry gave the premières of music by Vaughan Williams (whose Mass in G minor received its liturgical performance at a Mass in the cathedral), Gustav Holst, Herbert Howells and Charles Wood; in 1959 Benjamin Britten wrote his Missa brevis for the choristers; and since 1960 works by Lennox Berkeley, William Mathias, Colin Mawby and Francis Grier have been added to the repertoire. Most recently four new Masses—by Roxanna Panufnik, James MacMillan, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Judith Bingham—have received their first performance in the cathedral. In June 2005 the choristers performed the world première of Sir John Tavener's Missa Brevis for boys' voices.

Westminster Cathedral Choir made its first recording in 1907. Many more have followed in the Westminster Cathedral Choir discography, most recently the series on the Hyperion label, and many awards have been conferred on the choir's recordings. Of these the most prestigious are the 1998 Gramophone Awards for both Best Choral Recording of the Year and Record of the Year, for the performance of Martin's Mass for Double Choir and Pizzetti's Requiem, conducted by O'Donnell. It is the only cathedral choir to have won in either of these categories.

When its duties at the cathedral permit, the choir also gives concert performances both at home and abroad. It has appeared at many important festivals, including Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Salzburg, Copenhagen, Bremen and Spitalfields. It has appeared in many of the major concert halls of Britain, including the Royal Festival Hall, the Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. The cathedral choir also broadcasts frequently on radio and television.

Westminster Cathedral Choir has undertaken a number of international tours, including visits to Hungary, Germany and the US. The choristers participated in the 2003 and 2006 International Gregorian chant Festival in Watou, Belgium, and the full choir performed twice at the Oslo International Church Music Festival in March 2006. In April 2005, 2007 and 2008 they performed as part of the "Due Organi in Concerto" festival in Milan. In October 2011, they sang the inaugural concert of the Institute for Sacred Music at Saint John's in Minnesota.

The cathedral is frequently referred to as the 'Drome'. This dates from the early 20th century days when the Lay Clerks were represented by Equity—the trade union for actors and variety artists. In the profession, it was jokingly referred to as 'The Westminster Hippodrome'—a nickname which was later shortened to the 'Drome'.

Oremus magazine
Westminster Cathedral has published a monthly magazine since 1896, before the building work was completed. The latest in a series of titles is Oremus, which first appeared in 1996. (The Latin word oremus translates into English as "Let us pray".) Oremus is a 32-page colour magazine, which contains features and articles by well-known members of the Catholic community, as well as non-Catholic commentators and leading figures within British society. It is the successor of titles such as the Westminster Cathedral Record, selling at 6d per copy from January 1896, the Westminster Cathedral Chronicle, a monthly, available from January 1907 at 2d a copy or 3/- a year, post paid, and the Westminster Cathedral Bulletin, first published in 1974. Dylan Parry, who edited the magazine between 2012 and August 2016, took the decision to make Oremus a free publication in 2013. The magazine is also available to download via Westminster Cathedral's website.

Burials
In order of years of office:
 * Richard Challoner (1691–1781) Vicar Apostolic of the London District (Re-interred in the cathedral 1946)
 * Nicholas Wiseman (28 September 1850 – 15 February 1865) First Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. (Re-interred in the cathedral 1907)
 * Henry Edward Manning (16 May 1865 – 14 January 1892) Archbishop of Westminster. (Re-interred in the cathedral 1907)
 * Herbert Vaughan (8 April 1832 – 19 June 1903) Archbishop of Westminster. (Re-interred in the cathedral 2005)
 * Arthur Hinsley (1 April 1935 – 17 March 1943) Archbishop of Westminster
 * Bernard Griffin (18 December 1943 – 19 August 1956) Archbishop of Westminster
 * William Godfrey (3 December 1956 – 22 January 1963) Archbishop of Westminster
 * John Heenan (22 February 1965 – 7 November 1975) Archbishop of Westminster
 * Basil Hume (9 February 1976 – 17 June 1999) Archbishop of Westminster
 * Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (15 February 2000 – 3 April 2009) (Died on 1 September 2017) Archbishop of Westminster and first emeritus Archbishop, since the other holders died in office

Also buried in the crypt is Alexander count Benckendorff, the Russian ambassador to the Court of St James's from 1903 until his death in 1917.

In popular culture

 * In Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson's apocalyptic science fiction novel Lord of the World, Westminster Cathedral is the only church in London still used for religious purposes. The others have all been confiscated by the state.
 * The Campanile Bell Tower of Westminster Cathedral was featured prominently in the Alfred Hitchcock film Foreign Correspondent, at which the attempted murder of a journalist played by Joel McCrea took place.
 * In Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age scenes taking place at El Escorial were shot in Westminster Cathedral.
 * The cathedral has been painted by London-born Irish artist Brian Whelan.

title: Westminster Cathedral


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Talk:The Years of Rice and Salt

Untitled

 * Not only because of the long time scale, but also because of its realistic-utopian elements, and because of the frequent reflections about human nature, The Years of Rice and Salt resembles Robinson's Mars trilogy, a utopia brought to Earth.

I don't understand this: is it trying to say the Mars trilogy is "a utopia brought to Earth"? --Sam

No. I tried to say that there are similarities between Robinsons utopian Mars trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt in the points of:

 * long time scale
 * realistisc-utopian elements (i.e. ambivalence of utopia)
 * reflections about human nature

So, YRC is the Mars utopia brought to earth. -- till we *) 22:07, Dec 7, 2003 (UTC)

I'm confused, where is this edit? Jakesyl (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 17:56, 26 September 2015 (UTC)

Chronology
KSR seems to have written much of this book (excluding the Chronology at the beginning) without knowing that the Muslim calendar is lunar, and consequently he starts his story, which begins in AD 1405, in "AH 783". (The correct year 1405 can be deduced from where he diverges from actual history, having Timur travel in a different direction. The sickness that's affecting him in this book is what in fact kills him in our history.)

Later -- and this was corrected in the British paperback -- he calls the present year 2002 "AH 1381", and there are a few other places where he seems to be using solar (Persian) Muslim years. He should have gone back and corrected the entire text. I've replaced "ca. 1400" for Chapter 1 with "1405". --User:Heian-794 0:01, Jan 11, 2005

 * User:Ericg, Zheng He doesn't figure in part three at all. I've taken the liberty of editing your revision and putting him back in the first chapter. -- User:Heian-794 23:08, Apr 19, 2005

A question about the time scale
In this article it says the book ends in 2002 AD (1423 AH), but on one of the links provided it ends at 2030's AD or somewhere around there. Im not sure if there is some mix-up considering the book uses non-western calendars or if its just a general miss on wikipedia's part. Anyone bold enough to clarify? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.10.184.10 (talk) 13:43, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Utopian?
As someone who hasn't read this, I'm a bit confused. Is Robinson suggesting with this book that we would have utopia if all Europeans had died? And this is supposed to somehow be realistic? He seemed to touch on themes of this in the Mars Trilogy as I recall, but it sounds like this book was an off-the-deep-end bashing of all things Western. Perhaps not...? RobertM525 06:56, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

 * Robert, I think the "utopian" label is not necessarily because of the death of the Europeans, but rather referring to the hopeful tone of the last chapter, where a world that has endured a horrific multi-generational war between two throroughly opposed ideologies has still managed to recover and progress towards the same positive future that we see coming about at the end of the Mars trilogy.

This book is not at all a bashing of all things western. Give it a try; you'll enjoy it! Heian-794 07:36, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

 * It's not a utopian novel in the traditional sense, i.e. if the world was organised in such and such a way, and people made to do this and that, than we would have a paradise on Earth, far from it. The characters find themselves re-incarnated more often than not into lives ruled by political despots, but also despotisms of the mind and imagination. Despotisms that are the children of radical Islam, and the bureaucratic traditionalism of China. Nor is the novel religously utopian, the protaganists find no relief or reward from the pain of rebirth, from a life lived well or badly. There is no paradise or bliss following death, only rebirth, all one's hard won achievements, wisdom and insights lost, to be learnt again from the start.

 * It is utopian in its belief in the fundamental goodness of individual human beings despite circumstances, the belief that the human spirit can be unbroken by setbacks even when cast against providence itself. The belief thatat no life is wasted even if it ends seemingly in failure; as do the majority of the individual incarnations. The "utopian" world at the end of the novel, is only possible because of the un-recorded eforts of those who went before, the acumulated toil of the untold billions who never made it into a history book "..the nameless actions of people who are never written down, the good they do for others passed on like a blessing...".

 * Actually you might not enjoy this book, it might frustrate and irritate you, for example when favourite characters get no respite with neat easy resolutions; but if you persevere with this book and do so with an open mind, you'll be the richer for having read it.Koonan the almost civilised 20:03, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
 * From the far future:
 * Thank you so much for this. Whoever you are, you have so magically described my favorite book! I hope that you are well and content for all of your years. Sunriseshore (talk) 04:27, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Cover YearsOfRiceAndSalt.jpg
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A minor question...
"In the last chapters the book becomes increasingly reflexive, citing fictional scientists and philosophers introduced in previous chapters as well as referring to Old Red Ink, who wrote a biography about a reincarnating jati group."

Shouldn't that be 'reflective'? If it's referring back to itself, that would be reflecting on itself, wheras 'reflexive' would be, well, 'a reflex'.

 * Nope. Check your dictionary. "Reflexive" means operating upon oneself. It's a term borrowed from grammar, to describe works which self-reference. -- Orange Mike 13:39, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

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title: Talk:The Years of Rice and Salt


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Western tanager

The western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), other members of its genus and it  are classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.

Taxonomy
The western tanager was illustrated and formally described by American ornithologist Alexander Wilson in 1811 under the binomial name Tanagra ludoviciana from a specimen collected on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806). The type locality is Kamiah, Idaho. The specific epithet is from the Late Latin ludovicianus for "Louis". The name is from Louisiana, the 18th-century French administrative district of New France, rather than the modern state. The western tanager is now placed in the genus Piranga that was introduced by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1808. The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognized.

Description
Measurements:

 * Length: 6.3-7.5 in (16-19 cm)
 * Weight: 0.8-1.3 oz (24-36 g)
 * Wingspan: 11.5 in (29 cm)

Adults have pale, stout pointed bills, yellow underparts, and light wing bars. Adult males have a bright red face and a yellow nape, shoulder, and rump, with black upper back, wings, and tail; in non-breeding plumage, the head has no more than a reddish cast and the body has an olive tinge. Females have a yellow head and are olive on the back, with dark wings and tail.

The song of disconnected short phrases suggests an American robin's, but is hoarser and rather monotonous. The call is described as pit-er-ick.

Their breeding habitat is coniferous or mixed woods across western North America from the Mexico-U.S. border as far north as southern Alaska; thus, they are the northernmost-breeding tanager. They build a flimsy cup nest on a horizontal tree branch, usually in a conifer. They lay four bluish-green eggs with brown spots.

These birds migrate, wintering from central Mexico to Costa Rica. Some also winter in Southern California.

Distribution and habitat
The breeding range of the western tanager includes forests along the western coast of North America from southeastern Alaska south to northern Baja California, Mexico. Western tanagers extend east to western Texas and north through central New Mexico, central Colorado, extreme northwest Nebraska, and areas of western South Dakota to southern Northwest Territories, Canada. The western tanager's wintering range stretches from central Costa Rica north through Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to southern Baja California Sur and extreme southeastern Sonora in western Mexico and to southern Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Western tanagers do not typically occur in the Caribbean lowlands. They have been reported wintering further north and have been observed as far south as Panama. Vagrants are rare to casual in the eastern United States.

In addition to the plant communities listed above, western tanagers are reported from disturbed habitats. For instance, western tanagers were seen in an area of northwestern California that had been logged less than five years previously. Cutleaf burnweed (Erechtites glomerata) was characteristic of the youngest age class, while slightly older sites were composed predominantly of tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus) with smaller amounts of snowbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus), whitebark raspberry (Rubus leucodermis), and Sierra gooseberry (Ribes roezlii). In addition, western tanagers were captured along the Rio Grande in New Mexico during spring and fall migration in an agricultural area composed primarily of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and corn (Zea mays).

Western tanagers have also been observed in saltcedar (Tamarix species) communities and in Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) vegetation. In New Mexico, western tanagers were observed in nearly pure stands of saltcedar 10 to 23 ft (3–7 m) tall. Western tanagers were also observed in saltcedar communities during fall migration in along the Rio Grande. Ten western tanagers were observed among three sites composed of Russian olive in Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. All sites were dominated by Russian olive with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) comprising a substantial portion of the understory. Along the Rio Grande, western tanagers were most often captured during fall migration in vegetation with a Rio Grande cottonwood (Populus deltoides species wislizenii) overstory and a moderate to dense Russian olive understory.

Behavior and ecology
Western tanagers migrate alone or in groups of up to 30 birds. On average, hatching-year western tanagers were captured later (early September) at Rio Grande Nature Center than adult western tanagers (mid-August) during fall migration. Migration timing, condition of birds, and site differences in spring and fall migration were also addressed in this investigation.

Breeding
Western tanagers arrive on their breeding grounds in spring. Breeding usually occurs among birds two years or older, beginning in May and continuing into July, although some first-year western tanagers also breed. In the Sandia Mountains of north-central New Mexico, western tanagers were heard singing beginning in late May, and the first nest was found in early June. In public open-space areas in Boulder County, Colorado, the start of the western tanager breeding season was estimated as 28 May, and the peak of the breeding season, defined as at least 50% of western tanager nests active, was from 6 June to 1 July. In the Southwest, brooding generally begins in early May, while in the Northwest, brooding starts typically in mid-June. Brooding can begin earlier in British Columbia and Alberta than in the northwestern United States. An egg-laying date as early as 16 May in British Columbia was estimated by back calculation, and a complete egg set was observed as early as 26 May in Alberta.

Cup nests are built by the female, take about four or more days to construct, and are made from twigs, rootlets, grasses, and pine needles. No evidence has been found for second broods in western tanagers, but a review notes a nesting attempt after a failed nest in west-central Idaho, and suggests that renesting is a substantial source of late nesting attempts. In addition, renesting was suggested as the explanation for a few late nests observed in Boulder County, Colorado.

Clutch size is typically three to five eggs. Average clutch size in 10 nonparasitized nests in Boulder County was 3.8 eggs. Average clutch in the Southwest may be smaller than that of western tanagers nesting in the north. Egglaying generally takes about one day per egg. The female incubates the eggs for about 13 days, although shorter incubation periods have been reported. The young are fed by both parents, and typically fledge 11 to 15 days after hatching. Immature western tanagers have been observed with the parents at least two weeks after fledging.

Immature western tanagers initiate migration later than adult birds. Generally, western tanagers leave more northerly locations in late summer or early fall, while those in more southerly areas may stay as late as early November.

Reproductive success of western tanagers varies widely between studies and across years. An average annual nest success probability estimate is 0.186 over 3 years, with a low of 0.035 and a high of 0.349. In a northern Arizona study area, an average of 43% (n=7) of nests succeeded to the nestling stage. In Boulder County, nesting success varied from 11.3% to 75.3%, with an average of 51.8% over a 3-year period. Daily nest survival rate on ungrazed sites in northeastern New Mexico was 0.955, which was not significantly (p<0.05) different from the 0.973 daily nest survival rate found on grazed sites. Nest predation is the leading cause of nest failure. Predation rates ranged from 30% (n=48) in a study in New Mexico pinyon-juniper woodland to 86% (n=14) in a mixed-conifer forest in Idaho.

Western tanagers can live several years. The annual average survival rate is 0.753 and a return rate is 30.1% for western tanagers in west-central Idaho. A wild western tanager 7 years and 11 months old has been documented from banding data.

Habitat
During the breeding season, western tanagers are found primarily in relatively open coniferous forests and mixed woodlands. During migration, western tanagers occur in more areas, including lowland woodlands of Southern California, desert oases, riparian areas, parks, and orchards. In the western tanager's wintering range, it occupies pine (Pinus spp.) and pine-oak (Quercus spp.) woodlands, as well as low-canopied scrub forests, forest edges, and coffee plantations.

Western tanagers breed at a wide range of elevations from about 183 ft (56 m) in the Northwest up to 10,000 ft (3,050 m). In the northern portion of their breeding range, western tanagers have been observed on sites over 8,300 ft (2,530 m) in Oregon down to sites as low as 183 ft (56 m) in Oregon's Central Willamette Valley. In the southern portion of their breeding range, western tanagers are more typical on high-elevation sites. They were observed on an Arizona site 8,270 ft (2,520 m) in elevation and on a site at 9,500 ft (2,900 m) in Nevada.

Nesting
Western tanagers nest in second-growth and mature conifer and mixed forests. They only breed in stands of pole- to large-sized trees and stands of pole- to medium-sized trees with >70% canopy cover. Nesting was confined to older second-growth (>40 years) and mature (120+ years) Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) communities in the western Cascade Range in Oregon.

Western tanager nests are typically found in coniferous trees toward the end of horizontal branches and at heights greater than 10 ft (3 m); 79% of 43 western tanager nests in British Columbia were found in conifers, primarily Douglas fir. The deciduous trees most often used were quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and willows (Salix spp.). The position of their nests along the branches of deciduous trees was more variable than in conifers. On this site, 56% of nests were at heights from 21 to 36 ft (6.4–11 m). Of 9 western tanager nests in an Alberta study site, eight occurred in white spruce (Picea glauca) and one was found in quaking aspen. Nest height ranged from 20 to 42 ft (6.3–12.8 m), with a mean of about 30 ft (9.3 m). On average, nests were located 80% of the distance from the trunk to the tip of the branch. Of 49 western tanager nests found in a pinyon-juniper (Pinus-Juniperus spp.) woodland in northeastern New Mexico, 98% were in Colorado pinyon (P. edulis) and the remainder occurred in Douglas fir. On this site, nest trees averaged 24 ft (7.4 m) in height and over 8 in (21.9 cm) in diameter at breast height (dbh). The average height of nests was 18 ft (5.4 m). In a nearby mixed-conifer forest, nests were found in Douglas fir and ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa). Nest trees on this site averaged nearly 50 ft (15.1 m) in height and 13 in (32.7 cm) in dbh. The average nest height was 16 ft (4.93 m) and on average nests were located about 5 ft (1.49 m) from the tree stem and 3 ft (0.97 m) from the edge of the tree's foliage. Western tanager nests on a north-central New Mexico site occurred at heights from 8 to 15 ft (2–5 m), typically in white fir (Abies concolor) located in open areas. In Idaho, nests were found in conifers at an average height of 40 ft (12.3 m) and ranged from 8 to 55 ft (2.4–16.8 m). Of 58 nests at a Colorado study site, 54 occurred in ponderosa pine and four were found in Douglas fir. Nest height was significantly associated with tree height, with the mean nest height around 54% of tree height. On average, western tanager nests were located 63% of the distance between the trunk and the branch tip. This is closer to the bole than found in most studies, and the authors suggest that the conical shape of the ponderosa pine requires nests be placed closer in toward the trunk to provide cover. Canopy cover at nest sites averaged 71%, with a minimum of 31% cover.

Foraging habitat
Western tanagers forage in many habitats, in all successional stages from grass-forb communities to stands of large trees with greater than 70% cover. In western Oregon, they were not observed using the grass and forb successional stages, but were observed foraging in areas not used for nesting, such as shrub/sapling and young second-growth (16–40 years old) stands typically made up of Douglas fir.

Although western tanagers forage in many habitats, they are typically observed foraging in forest canopies. For instance, in an area of California primarily dominated by giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), western tanagers spent 60% to 75% of their foraging time above 35 ft (10 m) and less than 2% of foraging time below 12 ft (4 m). In coniferous forests of western Montana, they were typically observed foraging in canopy foliage above 26 ft (8 m). In mixed conifer-oak forests in California, they foraged from 16 to 92 ft (5–28 m).

In primarily Douglas fir-dominated vegetation in British Columbia, the occurrence of western tanager foraging in various portions of trees and the size of those trees were investigated. This species perched on stems less than 1 in (<2.5 cm) in diameter in 96.9% of observations. Nearly 85% of observations were either near the branch tip or in the middle of the branch. Western tanagers foraged on larger trees, with nearly 80% of observations on trees with a trunk diameter of more than about 8 in (20.0 cm), and over 80% of observations occurring on trees 33 ft (10 m) or taller. They used taller trees and trees with larger diameters significantly more than their availability in all silvicultural treatments analyzed.

Western tanagers may preferentially forage on certain species. In a California study of foraging and habitat relationships of insect-gleaning birds in mixed conifer-oak forest, they used white fir more and incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) less than would be expected from their availability. Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), Douglas fir, and California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) were used slightly more than their availability, but this was not considered significant, since 95% confidence intervals overlapped with use in accordance with availability. Ponderosa pine was used in proportion to its availability. In mostly Douglas fir-dominated communities in British Columbia, western tanagers were observed foraging in Douglas fir in 88.9% of observations, ponderosa pine in 7.4% of observations, and in living trees of other species in 3.7% of observations. Over all sites, the preference for Douglas-fir was significantly (p<0.001) greater than availability. When sites were separated by the various silvicultural treatments, only the 3-year-old light cut (Douglas fir and ponderosa pine larger than 14 in (35 cm) in dbh and other species larger than 6 in  (15 cm) dbh were harvested) and the selectively logged (20% of 6- to 8-in dbh (15.2–20.3 cm) trees, 25% of 8- to 12-in dbh (20.3–30.5 cm) trees, 45% of 12- to 24-inch dbh (30.5–61.0 cm) trees, and 75% of >24-inch dbh (>61.0 cm) trees were removed) sites showed significantly  greater use of Douglas fir by western tanagers than would be expected from availability. They were reported foraging on quaking aspen, as well as balsam poplar (P. balsamifera ssp. balsamifera), speckled alder (Alnus rugosa), and white spruce in central Alberta.

Although western tanagers occur in stands of varying ages and have been observed in higher densities on young sites, they are typically detected more often in relatively mature stands. For example, they appear to occur more often in mature (50–60 years old) and old-growth (100+ years) quaking aspen than young (<23 years old) trembling aspen stands in the Prince Rupert Forest Region of British Columbia. In Alberta, western tanager was detected significantly (p<0.001) more often in old (120+ years old) quaking aspen mixed-wood stands than in mature (50–65 years old) or young (20–30 years old) mixed-wood stands. The same trend has been found in other communities. In Washington, western tanager was observed on sites dominated by older (35-year- and 60-year-old) red alder (A. rubra), but not on sites containing young (4-year- and 10-year-old sites) red alder. Although western tanagers were fairly common on recently harvested sites, they were detected at the most points in "mature" and "old-growth" ponderosa pine in northern Idaho and western Montana. Western tanagers had higher densities in mature (33 ft, >10 m tall) conifer plots and young conifer/mature conifer transition plots than in young (3–33 ft, 1–10 m tall) conifer plots in British Columbia. Western tanagers occurred at an average density of 53.2 birds/100 ha in sawtimber Douglas fir stands (>80–150 years old), 37.0/100 ha in mature Douglas fir stands (>100 years old), and 3.1/100 ha in sapling Douglas fir stands (<20 years old) in northern California. Although they occurred at higher densities in young Douglas fir forest in Oregon, the stands were 40 to 72 years old. Mature forest was from 80 to 120 years old, and old-growth forest was 200 to 525 years old.

Stand structure and composition
Western tanagers appear to prefer large trees, which are considered an important component of stands for them. In addition, western tanagers were significantly positively associated with large saw timber (>20% cover, >21 in [>53.2 cm] mean dbh) and significantly negatively associated with pole timber (>20% cover; conifers >10 ft [>3 m] tall and 4–12 inh (10.2–30.4 cm) mean dbh; hardwoods 10–50 ft (3–15 m) tall and 4–12 in mean dbh) stands dominated by Douglas fir, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and red alder in the central Oregon Coast Ranges. In primarily Douglas fir-dominated communities in British Columbia, western tanagers foraged in trees >33 ft (>10 m) tall in more than 80% of observations, and nearly 80% of foraging observations were in trees with trunk diameters greater than 8 in  (>20.0 cm). In addition, western tanagers foraged in trees smaller than 33 ft (10 m) tall less than their availability.

Most evidence suggests that western tanagers prefer areas with moderate canopy cover. They avoid continuous canopy. Stands with large trees and 40 to 69% canopy cover are an optimal western tanager habitat. Large trees and canopy cover ≥70% is considered suitable habitat, while areas with large trees and <40% cover are categorized as marginal habitat. In sapling/pole and mature ponderosa pine habitats of the Black Hills in South Dakota, western tanagers occurred at the highest densities in stands with intermediate (40%-70%) canopy cover. In 35- to 45-year-old Douglas fir and red alder-dominated stands, an average of 322% more western tanagers were detected on sites logged to a density of 240 to 320 trees/ha, and an average of 363% more of them were detected on sites logged to a density of 180 to 220 trees/ha, compared to controls with 410 to 710 trees/ha. The difference in western tanager detections between the logging treatments and the control grew larger over time. In Arizona, western tanagers occurred at significantly higher densities (15.8/40 ha) in forest dominated by Douglas fir and ponderosa pine the year after logging to an average of 167.7 trees/ha compared to control stands (7.7/40 ha) with average tree density of 626.2 trees/ha. Western tanager densities on the treatment and control sites were more similar the following year. In British Columbia, western tanagers occurred at significantly higher densities after "light" logging on a site containing Douglas fir and ponderosa pine. The species apparently was positively influenced by thinning a ponderosa pine stand by 20% in Arizona. In the Sierra Nevada of California, western tanagers occurred at a higher density in an open-canopied (602 trees >10 cm dbh/ha) mixed-conifer stand consisting of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), lodgepole pine (P. contorta), white fir, and incense-cedar compared to a closed-canopied (994 trees >10 cm dbh/ha) mixed conifer stand of incense-cedar and white fir. This same pattern was found in open- (420 trees > 10 cm dbh/ha) and closed-canopied (658 trees > 10 cm dbh) California red fir (Abies magnifica var. magnifica) stands.

Western tanagers have been reported to prefer areas with a diverse forest structure, but importance of lower forest layers is unclear. In the Black Hills of South Dakota, they were significantly more abundant in multistoried habitats with bur oak (Q. macrocarpa) and quaking aspen/paper birch (Betula papyrifera) under a ponderosa pine canopy than in sapling/pole or mature ponderosa pine stands with varying canopy cover. Reviews assert the importance of a diverse forest structure and a dense deciduous understory for western tanagers. In some areas, though, the influence of lower forest layers may be relatively insignificant. For example, removal of incense-cedar and white fir from 1 to 10 ft (0.3–3 m) tall in giant sequoia forests had little impact on western tanager density.

Western tanagers may associate with or avoid some plant species. For example, in mixed-wood forests in Alberta, western they were significantly positively associated with conifer density. The western tanager was also considered a conifer-associated species in quaking aspen-dominated and mixed quaking aspen-conifer communities in British Columbia. Western tanagers' preference for multistoried habitats in the Black Hills may be related to the bur oak and quaking aspen/paper birch midstory. Western tanagers were not significantly related with abundance of pineland dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium vaginatum ssp. cryptopodum) in ponderosa pine stands in central Colorado. The western tanager species was negatively associated with subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa) cover in northern Rocky Mountain conifer forests.

Food and feeding
Western tanagers obtain their food by foliage gleaning and hawking. The degree to which each of these methods is used apparently varies across locations. For instance, in a California mixed conifer-oak forest consisting mainly of white fir, Douglas fir, incense-cedar, and California black oak, about 47% of western tanager foraging observations were gleaning, about 40% were hawking, and lunging and hovering occurred in about 6% and 7% of observations, respectively. In contrast, in the mainly Douglas fir-dominated communities of interior British Columbia, gleaning constituted 93.2% of western tanager foraging observations. Hawking only occurred in 3.7% of observations and hovering in 3.1%.

Western tanagers primarily glean from foliage. In the mixed conifer-oak woodland of California, 45% of their foraging observations were foliage gleaning. Western tanagers gleaned from twigs in 10% of observations and from branches in 5% of observations. Hawking constituted the remainder of western tanager foraging observations. In British Columbia, 88.3% of gleaning observations occurred on foliage, 10.5% on branches and twigs, and 1.2% on trunks.

Western tanagers eat fruits (~18%) and a wide range of insects (~82%). Fruits include hawthorn apples (Crataegus spp.), raspberries (Rubus spp.), mulberries (Morus spp.), elderberries (Sambucus spp.), serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.), and wild and cultivated cherries (Prunus spp.). They have been observed foraging on Perry's agave (Agave parryi) nectar. Reports of western tanager eating eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) nectar, Russian olive fruits, and human-provided food, including bird seed and dried fruit, were summarized. Western tanagers are major consumers of western spruce budworms (Choristoneura occidentalis), and they have been observed eating Douglas fir tussock moth larvae (Orgyia pseudotsugata). Hymenopterans, mostly wasps and ants, constituted 75% of insects in western tanager stomachs in August. The other insects were beetles (Coleoptera, 12%), mainly click beetles (Elateridae) and woodborers (Bupestridae), true bugs (Hemiptera, 8%), grasshoppers (Orthoptera, 4%), and caterpillars (Lepidoptera, 2%).

Predators
Several birds prey on western tanagers. Remains of a western tanager were found in a red-tailed hawk's (Buteo jamaicensis) nest in Colorado. In southwestern Idaho, western tanager remains were reported in one of over 170 prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) nests observed. Northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), Mexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis spp. lucida), sharp-shinned hawks (A. striatus) and Cooper's hawks (A. cooperii) are also western tanager predators. Accipiter hawks (Accipitrinae) and jays (Corvidae) are major predators of western tanagers. Domestic cats also preyed on western tanagers in British Columbia.

Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana), northern pygmy owls (Glaucidium gnoma), great horned owls (Bubo virginianus), and jays such as scrub jays (Aphelocoma species), pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), and Steller's jays (Cyanocitta stelleri) are typical avian predators of western tanager nests. Other reported nest predators include black bears (Ursus americanus), prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis), and bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer).

Western tanager nests are parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus aster). Parasitism rates can be high, and can dramatically reduce the number of western tanagers fledged per nest.

Book

 * Hudon, J. 1999. Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana). In The Birds of North America, No. 432 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Theses

 * Curson DR. Ph.D. (2003). Host community dynamics and reproductive biology of a generalist avian brood parasite, the brown-headed cowbird. The University of Wisconsin – Madison, United States – Wisconsin.
 * Goguen CB. Ph.D. (1999). Brown-headed cowbird movements, habitat use, and impacts on hosts in a grazed and ungrazed landscape. The University of Wisconsin – Madison, United States – Wisconsin.
 * Hejl SJ. Ph.D. (1987). BIRD ASSEMBLAGES IN TRUE FIR FORESTS OF THE WESTERN SIERRA NEVADA (CALIFORNIA). Northern Arizona University, United States – Arizona.
 * Hudon J. Ph.D. (1989). Keto-carotenoid usage and evolutionary dynamics in birds. The University of Connecticut, United States – Connecticut.

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title: Western tanager


text:
Andrew Bartlett

Andrew John Julian Bartlett (born 4 August 1964) is an Australian politician, social worker, academic, and social campaigner who served as a Senator for Queensland from 1997 to 2008 and from 2017 to 2018. He represented the Australian Democrats in his first stint in the Senate, including as party leader from 2002 to 2004 and deputy leader from 2004 to 2008. In November 2017, he returned to the Senate as a member of the Australian Greens, replacing Larissa Waters after her disqualification during the parliamentary eligibility crisis. He resigned from the Senate in August 2018 in an unsuccessful attempt to win the House of Representatives seat of Brisbane, allowing Waters to fill his seat in advance of the 2019 election.

Early life
Bartlett was born in Brisbane on 4 August 1964. He is of Irish, Swiss, English and Greek descent – his great-great-grandfather, who is claimed to be the first Greek settler in Australia, arrived in Adelaide in 1840.

Bartlett holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Queensland. He worked for a community radio station from 1985 to 1986 and later as a social worker. He then worked as an electorate officer for Queensland Democrats senators Cheryl Kernot and John Woodley between 1990 and 1997.

Entry into politics
Bartlett has campaigned for gay rights. In 2004, he cried in the Senate chamber over a proposed law to define marriage as between a man and a woman, which he called an "absolute disgrace".

Leader of the Australian Democrats
After the resignation of party leader Natasha Stott Despoja on 21 August 2002, Bartlett was elected as her replacement on 5 October 2002, defeating the temporary leader Brian Greig.

To a degree, Bartlett stabilised the Democrats' troubled party room and spoke strongly against the Government's maltreatment of refugees and maladministration of the Department of Immigration. He also oversaw the Democrat senators' use of their potential balance of power role to influence increased funding for Medicare, protection of the welfare payments of sole parents, the unemployed and the disabled, and entitlement of some homosexual couples to superannuation entitlements equivalent to those enjoyed by heterosexual couples.

In December 2003, Bartlett resigned his Senate leadership. Accused by Liberal Senator Jeannie Ferris of physical and verbally abusing her when she confronted him upon leaving the Senate chamber after a vote, Bartlett gave her an unreserved apology. He admitted to abusing and manhandling the Senator. Bartlett, who had been drinking at a Liberal Party function held just outside the chamber, was accused of stealing five bottles of wine from the function. Some time after Ferris had retrieved the wine, Bartlett approached Ferris, and was alleged to have gripped her arm and verbally abused her, both inside the chamber and along the way to an outside courtyard. Parliamentary video of part of the incident appeared to show that Bartlett was drunk in the chamber. Bartlett's subsequent formal apology was accompanied by a bottle of wine, which Ferris described as "quite inappropriate ... as an apology for drunken behaviour involving abuse and a physical attack." By contrast, Liberal Senator Brett Mason, who witnessed the incident, said "Perhaps a little more was made of the incident than should have been made. I think it was overplayed by the media, and by everyone." Labor Senator Claire Moore was reported in The Bulletin magazine as saying Bartlett had been "unfairly demonized."

Bartlett resumed the party's parliamentary leadership in January 2004, giving an assurance that he would totally abstain from alcohol. However, the party's support levels remained at the same low level to which they had fallen at the time of Stott Despoja's resignation. He was unable to increase the party's support leading up to the 2004 election in which the Democrats were defending three Senate seats. All three seats were lost—one going to the Greens and two to Liberals. The party polled what was at the time the lowest vote since their inception in 1977.

Departure from the Democrats and Greens candidacy
Following the 2004 election, Bartlett did not re-contest the leadership, instead taking on the deputy leadership under Lyn Allison. Bartlett was defeated at the 2007 election, polling only 1.88% of the primary vote in Queensland. The Democrat vote was even lower in other states, and the party lost all its remaining Senate seats. He left the Senate at the expiration of his term in June 2008.

In November 2009, Greens leader Bob Brown announced that Bartlett would contest the lower house seat of Brisbane at the 2010 federal election as a candidate for the Australian Greens. Bartlett came third in the seat in the 2010 election, gaining 21.3% of the vote with a swing to the Greens of just over 10%.

This was not the first time that Bartlett contested Brisbane and against the sitting Labor member Arch Bevis. Bartlett had first contested Brisbane in 1996 for the Australian Democrats when he received 9.04% of the vote.

In May 2012, Bartlett ran for the Lord Mayoralty of Brisbane for the Greens, receiving 10.7% of the primary vote, a 2.3% increase on the previous election.

In 2015, years after the Democrats' parliamentary oblivion, the party was deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission. Speaking as a former Democrats leader, Bartlett reflected that the party's support of the Howard Government's introduction of the GST was "politically catastrophic", but the "last straw" for the party was the demise of Stott Despoja as leader in 2002: "Even though the Democrats eventually disappeared from parliament in 2008, basically our political support crashed and burned in 2002."

- Andrew Bartlett, 2015

Bartlett was again endorsed by the Greens as a Senate candidate for Queensland at the 2016 federal election. While he did not meet the quota for election, his colleague Senator Larissa Waters resigned her position on 18 July 2017 after discovering she held dual Australian and Canadian citizenship. She was ruled ineligible on 27 October 2017. As the second person on the 2016 Australian Greens Senate ticket, he replaced her after a recount. After his election was announced on 10 November, Bartlett was sworn in as a Senator for Queensland on 12 November 2017. Despite stirrings of a pre-selection showdown between himself and Waters for the next Senate election, Bartlett announced on 9 February 2018 that he would not seek to remain in the Senate, opting to seek pre-selection for the Queensland seat of Brisbane in the House of Representatives instead. On 16 June 2018, Bartlett announced that he would resign from the Senate at the end of August, to be replaced by Waters. The resignation was formally submitted to the Senate President Scott Ryan on 27 August 2018.

As announced, Bartlett contested the Division of Brisbane in the House of Representatives at the 2019 federal election receiving 22% of first preferences. Despite not winning the seat, he brought the Greens vote to its highest ever percentage in the Brisbane electorate, falling short of entering the two-party preferred vote behind Labor in second place, at 24.49%.

Bartlett contested the Electoral district of Clayfield in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland at the 2020 Queensland state election and received 17.61% of the vote.

Personal life
Bartlett is active on animal rights and human rights issues. After departing parliament, Bartlett took up a position as a part-time Research Fellow with the Migration Law Program at the Australian National University.

Bartlett has since returned to being an announcer at 4ZZZ, and was also Chair of the Board of Directors of 4ZZZ from 2014 until 2017. He occasionally writes pieces for websites such as Crikey, New Matilda, The Drum and Online Opinion. During Mental Health Week 2013, Bartlett wrote an article for the Courier-Mail about his being hospitalised for depression in 2012.

He has one daughter, Lillith.

title: Andrew Bartlett