My First Hepatic Tanagers and Hermit Warbler in Prescott

After spotting my first hermit warbler on Saturday, I came to the realization that it takes a very active outdoorsman to see this family of birds. As much success as I've had attracting a multitude of birds to my feeders in Prescott, only the yellow-rumped species of warbler has ever joined in the food frenzy. The many other varieties elusively hide in the surrounding forests, above the hiking trails, and far from the comfort of my cozy cabin's deck.

The easy-to-spot yellow-rumped actually winters across much of Arizona. Several other warblers, like the American yellow, black-throated gray, red-faced, and the painted redstart breed in our state's higher elevation forests over the summer. Meanwhile Townsend's, MacGillivray's, Wilson's and the hermit are on stop-overs as they migrate through the state. I've stumbled upon every one of these warblers by chance as I've traversed the many mountain, creekside, and wooded trails around Prescott and the rest of Arizona. I was at least three miles into my first hike on Trail 62, or Ranch Trail, a short part of the fifty-six-mile long Prescott Circle Trail, when I had the good fortune of meeting that very first hermit warbler, a female.

Meanwhile that same weekend back at my cabin, a family of hepatic tanagers was making regular stops at my suet feeder. Late in July, I observed an adult male and an adult female paying a couple of furtive visits, first-time sightings for me of these tropical birds. At first I thought they were summer tanagers, close cousins in the cardinalidae family and frequent visitors to the cabin. However the male was not brilliantly scarlet-colored, instead a plainer dusky red with dark patches, while the female was a duller yellow than her counterpart. In addition, their beaks were silver versus the pink of the summer tanagers'.

Just last Sunday morning, three weeks later, a male hepatic tanager showed up with a fledgling that he was feeding. The immature bird pleaded with raspy calls of hunger, silent only when its father delivered a morsel of suet. They must have made half a dozen visits that I observed, returning just as frequently the next day. That's when a mature female starting showing up both with them and independently, occasionally assuming the feeding duty.

There's no argument that finding warblers and most migratory birds requires venturing out into the wild and exploring deep in the forests that sustain the visitors. Yet there's something to say for parking oneself at home and waiting for long-distance travelers like tanagers and grosbeaks to stop by and imbibe in some well-chosen hand-outs. It's a choice of adventure or lazing; a six-mile hike or sitting in a deck chair. You decide.