A brightly colored bird that rips open wasp nests to find food took a supporting role in “Task,” the Delco-set drama airing on HBO.

The summer tanager makes his debut in the show’s pilot episode, when FBI special agent (and dedicated birder) Tom Brandis hears a distinct bird call and rushes to grab his binoculars. He’s shocked to discover a male summer tanager, the only bird in America with completely red plumage.

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According to a Pennsylvania bird expert, Tom’s surprise and elation is warranted.

“Summer tanagers are one of our more rare breeding birds,” said Sean Murphy, state ornithologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. “… Most of the research that’s been done for summer tanagers suggests that when birds are seen here in the spring, they’re somewhat overshooting their breeding grounds. And they may show up in the spring in Pennsylvania and be observed for a few days or a week or so, and then they return to a more appropriate breeding location.”

While the summer tanager is a bit elusive for Delaware Valley birders, Murphy says it shows up in the state every year. It was observed in Montgomery County in 2024 and Delaware County in May. But, as both he and “Task” note, the area is outside its usual range. Summer tanagers favor the southern part of the U.S., from California to Virginia, during breeding season. They seek even warmer climates in Central and South America for the winter.

In the fifth episode of “Task,” Tom uses the summer tanager to make an analogy about vagrant birds, which travel outside their normal breeding grounds. When vagrants stray too far from home, he tells his captor Robbie, they often die.

Murphy acknowledges that the odds of survival drop for birds that appear in an “unusual location” without a mate. But vagrancy is part of their biology, he said. Birds naturally seek out new habitats if their old haunts are threatened by natural disasters, overpopulation or deforestation. Sometimes vagrants become “irregular visitors or even common visitors” after their initial detour, Murphy added. That’s what happened with the blue grosbeak, a bird once considered a vagrant in southeastern Pennsylvania. It’s now a consistent nester in Delaware and Philadelphia counties.

The summer tanager, like the human characters on “Task,” is also a fighter. It’s what Murphy calls a “bee and wasp specialist.” Summer tanagers will tear apart wasp nests to eat the larvae inside or catch an adult on the wing, smacking it against a tree to work the stinger out before feasting.

Birders hoping to catch a glimpse of one of these birds should, like Tom, listen for their call. Murphy points to a “distinctive, chucking sound” composed of “some clicking and harsher sounds” that summer managers make, in addition to a more traditional songbird melody. The males’ all-red feathers are easier to spot than the females’ mustard yellow. But make sure to avoid a common mistake: Summer tanagers are different from scarlet tanagers, a much more populous bird in Pennsylvania. While the male birds of this species are also bright red, they have jet black wings and tails. The ladies, meanwhile, have a more greenish-yellow hue.

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