Purple Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes caeruleus
Very small tanager, widespread and common in lowlands and foothills of northern South America. Male is indigo-blue with narrow black mask, black throat, and black wings. Note long decurved bill and yellow legs to separate from other honeycreepers in most of range. Female much different: she is mostly green with pale streaking on underparts, a grizzled buffy-brown face, and a blue mustache stripe. Extremely similar to Shining Honeycreeper, but very little range overlap. Male Shining has larger black throat patch and slightly shorter bill; female has duller, grayer crown and less buffy face. Usually in small groups, often accompanying a mixed-species flock in the canopy. Found in forests, edges, and gardens.
Identification
The purple honeycreeper is 4.5 in (11.5 cm) long, weighs 0.42 oz (12 g) and has a long black decurved bill. The male is purple with black wings, tail and belly, and bright yellow legs. Females and immatures have green upperparts, and green-streaked yellowish-buff underparts. The throat is cinnamon, and there is a blue moustachial stripe. The call of purple honeycreeper is a thin high-pitched zree. The Trinidadian subspecies C. c. longirostris has a longer bill than the mainland forms.
Taxonomy
The purple honeycreeper was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Certhia carrulea. Linnaeus based his description on "The Blue Creeper" that had been described and illustrated in 1743 by the English naturalist George Edwards from specimens collected in Suriname. The specimens had been mounted in glass cases and were owned by the Duke of Richmond. The purple honeycreeper is now placed in the genus Cyanerpes that was introduced in 1899 by the American ornithologist Harry C. Oberholser. The specific epithet caeruleus is Latin for "dark blue".<p>Five subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Cyanerpes caeruleus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Cyanerpes
Range and habitat
The species is a bird of northern South America, and besides the Amazon Basin and the Guianas, a coastal range occurs west of the Andes, including parts of southern Panama. In the south, its range extends to the extreme western Pantanal. Though it is most frequently seen in the lowlands up to 3,300 ft (1,000 m) ASL or so, it has been encountered as high as 7,500 ft (2,300 m) ASL.<p>This is a forest canopy species, but also occurs in cocoa and citrus plantations. At the upper limit of its altitudinal range, it frequents premontane rainforest, usually rather low-growing (33–50 ft/10–15 m) and full of epiphytes and mosses, and even elfin forest and páramo.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Bearded Wood-Partridge
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Very elusive, chickenlike bird of humid evergreen forest in foothills and highlands; scarce and very local in eastern Mexico where it is endemic. Usually in pairs or small groups on the forest floor. May be seen beside quiet trails and roads early and late in the day; runs away quickly and rarely flies. Note the blue-gray face and throat, red bill and eyering, and rusty breast. Loud rollicking songs are given mainly early and late in the day and most often reveal its presence.
Coleto
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A fairly large bird of forest canopy and more open wooded areas from the lowlands to low elevations in the mountains. Often seen on exposed snags. Pale gray from the back of the neck down the back to the rump and the sides. The rest of the underparts and wings are black. Head mostly covered with bare pink skin. Unmistakable. Voice includes a mixture of clicks, squeals, metallic warbling, and piping notes.
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