Blue Dacnis

Male of subspecies paraguayensis
Photo © by Luiz
Serrinha do Alambari, Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 2007

Alternative Name: Turquoise Honeycreeper.

Dacnis cayana

Identification

11–12 cm (4¼-4¾ in)
Male

• Turquoise
• Black forehead, throat, and back
• Black wings and tail, edged with turquoise
  

Female and immature

• Green upperparts
• Paler green underparts
• Green-edged brown wings
• Blue head

Female of subspecies paraguayensis
Photo © by MKC
Guararema SP, Brazil, June 2008

Distribution

From Honduras through Central and South America to Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Female of subspecies callaina
Photo © by NJLarsen
Las Lajas, Chiriqui, Panama, January 2018

Eight subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• D. c. ultramarina:

• Caribbean slope of north-eastern Honduras to north-western Colombia

• D. c. callaina:

• Western Costa Rica and western Panama (Chiriquí)

• D. c. napaea:

• Tropical northern Colombia

• D. c. baudoana:

• Tropical south-western Colombia (Baudó Mountains) to western Ecuador

• D. c. coerbicolor:

• Central Colombia (Cauca and Magdalena valleys)

• D. c. cayana:

• Eastern Colombia to Venezuela, Guianas, northern and central Brazil; winters to Trinidad

• D. c. glaucogularis:

• Southern Colombia to eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru and western Bolivia

• D. c. paraguayensis:

• Eastern Paraguay to eastern and southern Brazil and north-eastern Argentina

Habitat

Woodlands, terra firme forests and second growth.

Behaviour

Breeding

They build a bulky cup nest. The 2 white, brown-blotched eggs are incubated by the female.

Diet

The diet consists of insects and fruit.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2016)
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Blue Dacnis. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue_Dacnis

External Links

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