Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Photo: Rick & Nora Bowers/Vireo
Hepatic Tanager
Piranga flava
| Conservation status | Has probably declined in some areas of Southwest in recent decades. Nests may be parasitized fairly often by cowbirds. |
|---|---|
| Family | Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings |
| Habitat | Open mountain forests, oaks, pines. In our area, breeds at middle elevations in mountains and canyons, in forest of oaks and tall pines; also in some regions in low pinyon pine woods with a scattering of taller trees. In the tropics, lives mostly in the mountains, also locally in lowland pine savanna. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Forages rather slowly and deliberately, hopping along branches and pausing to peer about at the foliage. Mostly feeds high in trees, but sometimes forages in low shrubs and rarely on the ground. Sometimes flies out to catch insects in mid-air.
Eggs
3-5, typically 4. Bluish green, with brown spots often concentrated at the larger end. Incubation behavior and length of incubation period not well known. Young: Probably both parents feed the nestlings. Age at which the young leave the nest is not well known.
Young
Probably both parents feed the nestlings. Age at which the young leave the nest is not well known.
Diet
Mainly insects, also berries. Apparently feeds largely on insects, including caterpillars and beetles, probably many others. Also eats berries and small fruits, especially in late summer, including wild grapes.
Nesting
Male sings to defend nesting territory. Nest site is in tall tree, often pine, oak, or sycamore, usually 15-50' above the ground. Usually placed at a fork of a horizontal branch well out from the trunk. Nest is a shallow open cup made of grass and weed stems, lined with fine grass. Apparently built mostly by the female, although male may accompany her and may help carry nest material.
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- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
Strong short phrases, whistled vireo-fashion at even intervals; each phrase may rise, fall, or remain on the same tone. Call notes are a low chup and an inquisitive wheet?How climate change could affect this bird's range
In the broadest and most detailed study of its kind, Audubon scientists have used hundreds of thousands of citizen-science observations and sophisticated climate models to predict how birds in the U.S. and Canada will react to climate change.
Read more: climate.audubon.org
Each map is a visual guide to where a particular bird species may find the climate conditions it needs to survive in the future. We call this the bird’s “climatic range.”
The colors indicate the season in which the bird may find suitable conditions— blue for winter, yellow for summer (breeding), and green for where they overlap (indicating their presence year-round).
The darker the shaded area, the more likely it is the bird species will find suitable climate conditions to survive there.
The outline of the approximate current range for each season remains fixed in each frame, allowing you to compare how the range will expand, contract, or shift in the future.
The first frame of the animation shows where the bird can find a suitable climate today (based on data from 2000). The next three frames predict where this bird’s suitable climate may shift in the future—one frame each for 2020, 2050, and 2080.
You can play or pause the animation with the orange button in the lower left, or select an individual frame to study by clicking on its year.
