Shining Honeycreeper

Shining Honeycreeper
Shining Honeycreeper
male
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Cyanerpes
Species: C. lucidus
Binomial name
Cyanerpes lucidus
(Sclater & Salvin, 1859)

The Shining Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus) is a small bird in the tanager family. It is found in the tropical New World in Central America from southern Mexico to Panama and northwest Colombia. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the Purple Honeycreeper (C. caeruleus), but the two species breed sympatrically in eastern Panama and northwest Colombia.

This is a forest canopy species, but also occurs in forest edges and secondary growth. The female builds a shallow cup nest in a tree, and incubates the clutch of two eggs.

The Shining Honeycreeper is 10 cm long, weighs 11 g and has a long black decurved bill. The male is purple-blue with black wings, tail and throat, and bright yellow legs. The female has green upperparts, a greenish-blue head, buff throat and buff-streaked bluish underparts. The immature is similar to the female, but is greener on the head and breast.

The call of this honeycreeper is a thin high-pitched seee, and the male’s song is a pit pit pit pit pit-pit repeated for minutes at a time.

This species is very similar to the Purple Honeycreeper, but the male of the latter species is overall slightly darker and its black throat patch is smaller. Unlike the female Shining Honeycreeper, the female Purple Honeycreeper has buff (not dusky) lores and, except for its malar, no clear blue tinge to the head.

The Shining Honeycreeper is easily distinguished from the larger Red-legged Honeycreeper with which its shares its range by the latter species’ red legs and, in the male, black mantle.

The Shining Honeycreeper is usually found in pairs or family groups. It feeds on nectar, berries and insects, mainly in the canopy. It responds readily to the call of the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl.

References

  • BirdLife International (2004). Cyanerpes lucidus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
  • Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
  • Hilty, Birds of Venezuela by, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • shining honeycreeper — blizgioji tanagra medsiurbė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Cyanerpes lucidus angl. shining honeycreeper vok. Azurnaschvogel, m; Gelbfuß Naschvogel, m rus. лазурная танагра медосос, f pranc. guit guit brillant, m ryšiai:… …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • Honeycreeper — Also see: Honeycreeper (disambiguation). Honeycreeper male Red legged Honeycreeper. Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Colombia — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Colombia. The avifauna of Colombia includes a total of 1895 species, of which 74 are endemic, 2 have been introduced by humans, and 87 are rare or accidental. 1 species listed is extirpated in… …   Wikipedia

  • Sibley-Monroe checklist 18 — The Sibley Monroe checklist was a landmark document in the study of birds. It drew on extensive DNA DNA hybridisation studies to reassess the relationships between modern birds. Passeriformes (continued)Fringillidae* Peucedramus taeniatus Olive… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Panama — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Panama. The avifauna of Panama includes a total of 972 species, of which 12 are endemic, 6 have been introduced by humans, and 120 are rare or accidental. 20 species are globally threatened. The… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Costa Rica — Although Costa Rica is a small country, it is in the bird rich neotropical region and has a huge number of species for its area. 893 bird species have been recorded in the country (including Cocos Island), more than in all of the United States… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Belize — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Belize which consists of the mainland of Belize and around 450 smaller cays and islands lying in the Caribbean Sea. The avifauna of Belize includes a total of 618 species, of which 4 are globally… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Mexico — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Mexico. The avifauna of Mexico includes a total of 1,085 species, of which 108 are endemic, six have been introduced by humans, and 51 are rare or accidental. One species listed is extirpated in… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Guatemala — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Guatemala. The avifauna of Guatemala includes a total of 735 species, of which 1 is endemic, 2 have been introduced by humans, and 23 are rare or accidental. 10 species are globally threatened.This… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of El Salvador — This is a list of the bird species recorded in El Salvador. The avifauna of El Salvador includes a total of 583 species, of which 3 have been introduced by humans, and 40 are rare or accidental. 3 species are globally threatened.This list s… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”