Shining Honeycreeper
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| 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 from southern Mexico to northwest Colombia. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the Purple Honeycreeper Cyanerpes 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 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 similar to the Purple Honeycreeper, but the male of the latter species has a black belly, and the female lacks the blue tones of the female Shining Honeycreeper.
Shining Honeycreeper is easily distinguished from the larger Red-legged Honeycreeper with which its shares its range by the latter species’ leg colour and 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.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Cyanerpes lucidus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. 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
