Hepatic Tanager

(Piranga flava)

eBird gives this description of the Hepatic Tanager:  Large, stocky tanager. Males are red with dusty wash on upperparts and sides (especially on northern populations); females are muted yellowish. Both sexes are brightest on the throat and crown. Also note stout bill and dark lores. Several separate populations occur from the southwestern U.S. to South America, probably comprising multiple different species. Northern birds prefer mountainous areas with mixed pine-oak forest. South American birds found in a variety of forested habitats, from open woodlands in the lowlands to scrubby areas in the high Andes. Most similar to Summer Tanager, but grayer tones to plumage and usually different habitat. Song is sweet like American Robin: mostly clear phrases with some hoarser notes.

All About  Birds gives this additional descriptive information for the Hepatic Tanager:  The Hepatic Tanager’s sweet, caroling song carries well through the open pine and pine-oak forests of its highland habitats. Named for the male’s dusky reddish upperparts (“hepatic” refers to the liver), this species’ scientific name (flava) also references the female’s yellow plumage. Hepatic Tanagers occur in much of South and Central America and barely reach the southwestern U.S., where they are common but very little studied. They have gradually expanded their range northward since the 1960s.

I saw, and photographed, my first Hepatic Tanager along Harshaw Road outside of Patagonia, Arizona on August 6, 2022.  I was on a field trip organized by the 2022 Southwest Wings Birding Festival, and my guide was Scott Olmstead.  Thanks to Scott’s experience and excellent instincts in locating and identifying birds in the wild, we saw a number of birds along this stretch of canyon road that were new to me.  The Hepatic Tanager gave us a very brief look, and I didn’t get the best of photos from the encounter.  I enjoyed it none-the-less!  To see the eBird list Scott filed from our visit to this part of Harshaw Road, look here.  To read  my blog post that includes  our visit to Harshaw Road, look here.

HEPATIC TANAGER ALONG HARSHAW ROAD OUTSIDE OF PATAGONIA, ARIZONA. AUGUST 6, 2022.
ANOTHER SHOT OF THE HEPATIC TANAGER I WATCHED WITH SCOTT OLMSTEAD IN HARSHAW CANYON ON AUGUST 6, 2022.


“Cool Facts” About the Hepatic Tanager From All About Birds:

  • In Central and South America there are 300+ species of tanagers that, despite sharing a name, are unrelated to the 4 species in the U.S. and Canada. “Our” tanagers—Hepatic, Western, Summer, and Scarlet—are in the family Cardinalidae along with Northern Cardinals and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, among others.
  • Although the Hepatic Tanager has the most restricted range of the four Piranga tanagers in the United States, it is overall the most widespread member of its genus. It breeds from the southwestern United States southward all the way to Argentina.
  • 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.