Purple honeycreeper

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Purple honeycreeper
Adult male C. c. longirostris, Trinidad
Adult female C. c. longirostris, Trinidad

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Cyanerpes
Species:
C. caeruleus
Binomial name
Cyanerpes caeruleus
Synonyms

Certhia caerulea Linnaeus, 1758

The purple honeycreeper (Cyanerpes caeruleus) is a small

Thraupidae. It is found in the tropical New World from Colombia and Venezuela south to Brazil, and on Trinidad. A few, possibly introduced birds have been recorded on Tobago
.

Taxonomy

The purple honeycreeper was

Cyanerpes that was introduced in 1899 by the American ornithologist Harry C. Oberholser.[5][6] The specific epithet caeruleus is Latin for "dark blue".[7]

Five subspecies are recognised:[6]

  • C. c. chocoanus Hellmayr, 1920 – east Panama to west Ecuador
  • C. c. caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) – central Colombia and Venezuela through the Guianas and north-central Brazil
  • C. c. hellmayri Gyldenstolpe, 1945 – Potaro Highlands (Guyana)
  • C. c. longirostris (Cabanis, 1851) – Trinidad
  • C. c. microrhynchus (Berlepsch, 1884) – west, central Amazonia

Description

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.

Distribution and habitat

The species is a bird of northern South America, and besides the

ASL or so, it has been encountered as high as 7,500 ft (2,300 m) ASL.[8]

This is a forest

elfin forest and páramo.[8]

Behaviour and ecology

The purple honeycreeper is often found in small groups. It feeds on

mob
it. The female purple honeycreeper builds a small cup nest in a tree, and incubates the clutch of two brown-blotched white eggs.

Gallery

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22723009A94798741.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. pp. 118–119.
  3. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 349.
  4. ^ Edwards, George (1743). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Vol. Part 1. London: Printed for the author at the College of Physicians. p. 21, Plate 21.
  5. JSTOR 4069264
    .
  6. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Tanagers and allies"
    . IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  7. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  8. ^ a b Salaman, P.G.W.; Stiles, F.G.; Bohórquez, C.I.; Álvarez-R., M.; Umaña, A.M.; Donegan, T.M.; Cuervo, A.M. (2002). "New and noteworthy bird records from the east slope of the Andes of Colombia". Caldasia. 24 (1): 157–189.
  9. ^ "Cyanerpes caeruleus (Purple Honeycreeper)" (PDF). Sta.uwi.edu. Retrieved 25 March 2022.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cyanerpes caeruleus.
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