Hepatic Tanager

Piranga flava

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family THRAUPIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The Hepatic Tanager is a bird of the pine-oak forests of the southwestern mountains.

Cool Facts

• Although the Hepatic Tanager has the most restricted range of the four tanagers in the United States, in fact it is the most widespread member of its genus. It breeds from the southwestern United States southward all the way to Argentina.

• The Hepatic Tanager may include three different species: the Hepatic Tanager, found from the United States southward to Nicaragua; the Tooth-billed Tanager, found from Costa Rica to northern South America; and the Red Tanager of eastern and southeastern South America. The two southern forms lack the dusky ear coverts of the northern form.

• The Hepatic Tanager has been little studied. As of 2002, only 106 had been banded in the United States, and only one banded bird had ever been recovered.

Description

• Size: 20 cm (8 in)
• Wingspan: 32 cm (13 in)
• Weight: 23-47 g (0.81-1.66 ounces)

• Medium-sized songbird.
• Male all red with dark bill.
• Female yellowish.

• Bill stout, rather long, and pointed.
• Bill dark, shows "tooth" on upper mandible.
• Area in front of and behind eye dusky.
• Tail moderately long.
• Eyes black.
• Legs dark.

Sex Differences

Male dull red, female orangish yellow.

Male

Brick red to red-orange. Ear coverts, back, and flanks grayish. Bill dark, blackish on upper mandible, light gray on lower with black tip.

Female

Forehead, throat, and underparts olive-yellow to orange-yellow. Ear coverts and flanks grayish. Crown, nape, wings, and back grayish olive.

Immature

Immature similar to adult female.

Similar Species

• Summer Tanager male similar, but is brighter red and lacks gray in face, flanks, and back, and has longer, paler bill. Female Summer Tanager brighter, with paler bill.

Sound

Song a series of rich slurred, whistled notes interspersed with short pauses. Call an abrupt "chup."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds primarily in Arizona and New Mexico southward through Central America to South America. Also locally in southeastern California, southeastern Colorado, and western Texas.

Winter Range

Winters from southern Arizona southward.

Habitat

Found in open pine and pine-oak forests.

Food

Insects and some fruits.

Behavior

Foraging

Moves slowly and deliberately through foliage, working out from base of lower limbs. Flies out and catches flushed insects.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest a flat cup of plant fibers, grasses, and twigs. Lined with pine needles and soft materials. Placed in fork near end of horizontal tree branch.

Egg Description

Bluish green speckled with brown or purple, especially around the large end.

Clutch Size

Usually 4 eggs. Range: 3-5.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

Appears to be increasing in number and expanding its range.

Other Names

Tangara orangé (French)
Tángara roja piquioscura, Tángara bermeja, Piranga rojiza, Quitrique de los altiplanos, Piranga encinera, Piranga aguacatera, Cardenal avispero (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Eddleman, W. R. 2002. Hepatic Tanager (Piranga flava). In The Birds of North America, No. 655 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.