Honeycreeper
Encyclopedia
The typical honeycreepers are small bird
s in the tanager
family. They are found in the tropical New World
from Mexico
south to Brazil
.
They occur in the forest canopy, and, as the name implies, they are specialist nectar feeders with long curved bills
.
The four Cyanerpes species have colourful legs, long wings and a short tail. The males are typically glossy purple-blue and the females greenish.
The Green Honeycreeper
is called a Honeycreeper, but belongs to the monotypic
Chlorophanes genus. It has a larger, stouter beak than the Cyanerpes group, and is less heavily dependent on nectar.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s in the tanager
Tanager
The tanagers comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has an American distribution.There were traditionally about 240 species of tanagers, but the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux...
family. They are found in the tropical New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
south to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
They occur in the forest canopy, and, as the name implies, they are specialist nectar feeders with long curved bills
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
.
The four Cyanerpes species have colourful legs, long wings and a short tail. The males are typically glossy purple-blue and the females greenish.
The Green Honeycreeper
Green Honeycreeper
The Green Honeycreeper is a small bird in the tanager family. It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Brazil, and on Trinidad. It the only member of the genus Chlorophanes...
is called a Honeycreeper, but belongs to the monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
Chlorophanes genus. It has a larger, stouter beak than the Cyanerpes group, and is less heavily dependent on nectar.
Species
- Short-billed HoneycreeperShort-billed HoneycreeperThe Short-billed Honeycreeper is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests....
, Cyanerpes nitidus - Shining HoneycreeperShining HoneycreeperThe Shining Honeycreeper is a small bird in the tanager family. It is found in the tropical New World in Central America from southern Mexico to Panama and northwest Colombia. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the Purple Honeycreeper The Shining Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus) is...
, Cyanerpes lucidus - Purple HoneycreeperPurple HoneycreeperThe Purple Honeycreeper, Cyanerpes caeruleus, is a small bird in the tanager family. 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...
, Cyanerpes caeruleus - Red-legged HoneycreeperRed-legged HoneycreeperThe Red-legged Honeycreeper is a small songbird species in the tanager family . It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and on Cuba, where possibly introduced.-Description:The Red-legged Honeycreeper is on average...
, Cyanerpes cyaneus
External links
- Honeycreeper videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection