Shining Honeycreeper - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by Stanley Jones
Si Como No Resort in Quepos, Puntarenas Province Costa Rica, March 2007

Cyanerpes lucidus

Identification

10 cm
Male

• Purple plumage
• Black wings, tail and throat
• Long black decurved bill
• Bright yellow legs
  

Female

Juvenile male
Photo by peterday
Pico Bonito Lodge Honduras, March 2016

• Green upperparts
• Greenish-blue head
• Buff throat
• Buff-streaked bluish underparts
  

Immature: similar to the female, but has a greener head and breast.

Distribution

Central and South America:
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
South America: found only in Colombia.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

• C. l. lucidus:

• Southern Mexico (Chiapas) to Belize, Guatemala and northern Nicaragua

• C. l. isthmicus:

• Costa Rica to Panama and extreme north-western Colombia

(Female)
Photo © by rezMole
Costa Rica, 12 February 2019

Habitat

Forest canopy and forest edges.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes nectar, berries and insects.

Breeding

The female builds a cup-shaped nest which is placed in a tree - she also incubates the two eggs.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Shining Honeycreeper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Shining_Honeycreeper

External Links

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