Piranga flava
December 31, 1997: Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, Santa Cruz, AZ
(Northern, hepatica Group) This bird almost became the greatest mystery of the trip, but after studying the National Geographic field guide, I figured it out! This was one of the first birds I spotted early in the morning. As we walked the creek trail, we’d been flushing hundreds of sparrows, and in the midst of all this activity, I spotted this bird up in one of the larger trees along the trail. My first impression was of a yellow-throated bird, about 8 inches long with a short tail and medium length bill. When the bird turned, the sun hit its throat which then blazed the most amazing, brilliant orange color. I’d never seen anything like this! The orange was just on the throat, with the upper chest and the face a normal yellow color. Unfortunately, the bird flew out of sight before a better look could be had. After looking through the Peterson’s, I was completely stumped. There was simply nothing that matched this description. Kevin thought the bird reminiscent of an oriole, but the tail and bill were both too short. And it was bigger than any of our warblers. It had been a long time since a bird was so confusing! I often have to give up after narrowing it down to two or three species, but I had NO idea about this bird. Later, I sat down and studied the National Geographic Guide, and noticed that the female Hepatic Tanager was pictured with a slightly more brilliant throat than upper chest. Sure enough, the description listed that throat as being distinctive. A birding mystery solved! An unusual occurrence, to match the unusual bird that prompted it! This one was fun and satisfying!
Let me know what you think!