ANIMALS – BIRDS – SONGBIRDS – HEPATIC TANAGER (PIRANGA FLAVA)

Animals - Birds - Songbirds

Hepatic Tanager (Piranga flava)

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Passeriformes
Family : Cardinalidae
Genus : Piranga
Species : P. Flava

Description:

The Hepatic tanager (Piranga flava) is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.

The common name hepatic means "liver-coloured", namely, brownish-red. The specific name flāva is Latin for yellow or golden.

The habits of the hepatic tanager are similar to those of the western tanager. It ranges from the southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, and locally in southern California and Colorado) to northern Argentina.

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).

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.

Binomial Name:

Name : Piranga flava
Taxonomist : Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot (Yvetot - France)
Year : 1822
Subspecies : None, or no data available
Synonyms : Piranga hepatica

Conservation Status by IUCN:

Status : Least Concern

Has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as evaluated but not qualified for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (prior to 2001) conservation dependent.

Philatelic Issues

2008 – Uruguay – Stamp 1 of 2, from Mercosur Series

Issue information:

Country: Uruguay
Date: June 20th, 2008
Printed: 15.000 Copies
Type: Stamp from Series of 2 Stamps
Value: UYP 12

Stamp: Rectangular
Size: 39 mm. x 27 mm.
Perforation: Circular
Gum: Water Activated