Black Flowerpiercer - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Momo
Quito Botanical Gardens, Ecuador, March 2006

Diglossa humeralis

Identification

13·7 cm (5-6 inches)

• Black overall plumage
  

Sexes similar

Similar Species

Easily confused with male White-sided Flowerpiercer or Glossy Flowerpiercer. Former is more slaty and has white flanks; latter has a greyish-blue shoulder-patch. It's more difficult in parts of Colombia where the Black Flowerpiercer has a greyish-blue shoulder-patch (Slightly less blue than in Glossy).

Distribution

South America: found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies^[1]:

• D. h. nocticolor:

• Santa Marta Mountains of northern Colombia and Sierra de Perijá (western Venezuela)

• D. h. humeralis:

• Eastern Andes of Colombia and south-western Venezuela (Páramo de Tamá)

• D. h. aterrima:

• Western and Central Andes of Colombia to Ecuador and north-western Peru

Habitat

Subtropical or tropical moist montanes, elfin forest, shrubby borders and sheltered wooded ravines

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of nectar, supplemented by insects.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2015)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Flowerpiercer. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Flowerpiercer

External Links

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