Shining Honeycreeper

About the Shining Honeycreeper

The shining honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country except El Salvador, and Colombia. The shining honeycreeper was formally described in 1859 with the binomial Coereba lucida, as a member of a genus now occupied solely by the bananaquit (C. flaveola). It now shares genus Cyanerpes with three other species. Some early twentieth century authors considered it and the purple honeycreeper (C. caeruleus) to be conspecific but they are sympatric in Panama and Colombia.

The shining honeycreeper has two subspecies, the nominate C. l. lucidus (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1859) and C. l. isthmicus (Bangs, 1907). The shining honeycreeper is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long and weighs an average of about 11 g (0.39 oz). It has a slender, decurved, longish bill and a short tail. The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies are mostly ultramarine blue. They have a lighter, more azure head with a small black mask from the lores to just past the eye, a black throat and upper breast, and black wings and tail. Adult... Wikipedia →