Hepatic Tanager

The Hepatic Tanager is a somewhat subdued, brick-red tanager of montane pine-oak woodlands along the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, named for a liver-red ("hepatic") color quality to its plumage rather than the brighter scarlet of some relatives. Adult males are a dull to moderately deep red overall, with a distinctive dusky gray patch on the cheek (auricular area) and a dark, grayish bill, both useful features for separating it from the similar Summer Tanager. Females and immature birds are olive-yellow with a similar gray cheek patch and grayish bill.

Less familiar to most North American birders than the Summer or Scarlet Tanager because of its limited, localized U.S. range, the Hepatic Tanager reaches the United States only in mountainous pine-oak habitat of the Southwest, with its main range extending south through Mexico and Central America into South America.

Key Field Marks

• Adult male: brick-red to dull red overall, dusky gray cheek patch, dark grayish bill
• Female/immature: olive-yellow overall, gray cheek patch, grayish bill
• Bill notably darker and heavier-looking than the pale bills of Summer or Scarlet Tanager
• No black on the wings

Similar Species

• Summer Tanager lacks the dark gray cheek patch and has a paler, more uniformly pale bill; overall color tends to be a brighter, cleaner red.
• Scarlet Tanager male has contrasting black wings and tail, absent in Hepatic Tanager.
• Female Hepatic Tanagers are best distinguished from female Summer Tanagers by the dark cheek patch and darker bill.

Habitat

Favors open, mature pine-oak woodlands in mountains, typically at middle to higher elevations, often with a fairly open canopy and grassy understory.

Range

In the U.S., breeds locally in mountain ranges of Arizona, New Mexico, and far west Texas. More broadly distributed from Mexico south through Central America into South America, making it the most widespread tanager in the Americas by overall range.

Migration

U.S. breeding populations are migratory, moving into Mexico for winter, while populations farther south are largely resident.

Behavior

Hepatic Tanagers forage deliberately in the mid- to upper canopy of open pine-oak woodland, often moving more slowly and less conspicuously than other tanagers.

Voice

The song is a burry, robin-like series similar to other Piranga tanagers, generally considered slower and less varied; the call is a soft, low "chuck" note.

Feeding

Feeds on insects gleaned from foliage and caught in flight, supplemented with fruit, particularly outside the breeding season.

Nesting & Breeding

The female builds a shallow cup nest of twigs and plant material, usually placed on a horizontal branch of a pine or oak. She incubates 3-4 eggs alone.