Hepatic Tanager
A species of Northern Tanagers Scientific name : Piranga hepatica Genus : Northern Tanagers
Hepatic Tanager, A species of Northern Tanagers
Botanical name: Piranga hepatica
Genus: Northern Tanagers
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
Members of the northern group are larger and stockier than other Piranga tanagers and have a relatively short tail and a stout bill. Its brightest color is always on its forehead and throat. In all plumages, it has gray flanks, dusky cheeks, and a dark eye streak. The female is yellow, and the male is red. Its average weight is 38 g (1.3 oz). Its average wingspan is 31.8 cm (12.5 in) and length is 20.3 cm (8.0 in).
Size
18 cm
Feeding Habits
Hepatic Tanager's diet primarily includes insects, spiders, fruits, and nectar. Hepatic Tanager typically forages in tree canopies, adeptly picking prey from foliage or catching them in flight, and exhibits a preference for certain fruits when available. This varied diet demonstrates hepatic Tanager's opportunistic feeding behavior.
Habitat
More open woodland and scrub
Dite type
Frugivorous
General Info
Sounds
Call
Recording location: Mexico
Song
Recording location: United States
Behavior
The habits of the hepatic tanager are similar to those of the western tanager. Its call is a low, dry chup like the hermit thrush. Its song is clearer than Thraupidae tanagers and far more similar to the song of the black-headed grosbeak, another member of the Cardinalidae. The flight call is a husky and rising weet. It looks for food in the foliage of trees, moving slowly and methodically; different individuals use different strategies. In summer, the northern form largely eats insects, spiders and some fruit. In Mexico, it has been observed to eat nectar. From Oaxaca south, it follows swarms of army ants. Even the northern population's behavior and life history are remarkably little known.
Photo By Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Cardinals Genus
Northern Tanagers Species
Hepatic Tanager