- Cyanerpes caeruleus
Identification
4.5in. The male is violet blue and has yellow legs. He has a black mask, throat and there is black on the wings and tail. The bill is black, curved downwards and long. The female's upperparts are green with an orange brown throat and face, and a blue moustache. Her underside is lighter and streaked green-blue; her legs are green or yellow-green.
Distribution
Five subspecies share a range from Panama to Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia, and east to Brazil, the Guianas, Venezuela, and Trinidad.
Does have some ability to spread, for example seen in Tobago even though it does not breed there.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies[1]
- C. c. caeruleus:
- C. c. chocoanus:
- C. c. microrhynchus:
- C. c. longirostris:
- C. c. hellmayri:
- Highlands of Guyana
Habitat
Forests, especially in the canopy, but also sometimes in plantations.
Behaviour
The female builds a small cup shaped nest in a tree, and incubates the clutch of two brown-blotched white eggs.
These birds are found in small groups. It feeds on nectar, berries and insects, mainly in the canopy. It responds readily to the call of the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Purple Honeycreeper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Purple_Honeycreeper
External Links
Search the Gallery using the scientific name:
Search the Gallery using the common name:
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
