Red-legged Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes cyaneus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyThraupidae (Tanagers and Allies)
- GenusCyanerpes (Blue Honeycreepers)
- SpeciesCyanerpes cyaneus (Red-legged Honeycreeper)
About the Red-legged Honeycreeper
The red-legged honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus) is a small songbird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is regularly found in Mexico, every Central American country, Trinidad and Tobago, and every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It has also occurred as a vagrant in the United States, Argentina, and some southern Caribbean islands.
The red-legged honeycreeper was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae with the binomial Certhia cyanea. Linnaeus based his description on "The Black and Blue Creeper" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the English naturalist George Edwards from a specimen collected in Suriname. The purple honeycreeper was named the type species of the genus Cyanerpes when the American ornithologist Harry C. Oberholser erected the genus in 1899. The specific epithet cyaneus is a Latin word meaning "dark-blue".
The purplish honeycreeper (Chlorophanes purpurascens), a bird from Venezuela known only from the type specimen, is considered to be an intergeneric hybrid between the green honeycreeper... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Red-legged Honeycreeper in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Shining Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes lucidus
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Tiaris olivaceus
Blue-gray Tanager
Thraupis episcopus
Silver-throated Tanager
Tangara icterocephala
Bananaquit
Coereba flaveola
Palm Tanager
Thraupis palmarum
Buff-throated Saltator
Saltator maximus
Scarlet-thighed Dacnis
Dacnis venusta
Spangle-cheeked Tanager
Tangara dowii
Scarlet-rumped Tanager
Ramphocelus passerinii
Cinnamon-bellied Saltator
Saltator grandis
Crimson-collared Tanager
Ramphocelus sanguinolentus
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Red-legged Honeycreeper in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-legged Honeycreeper sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, based on 1,292 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Red-legged Honeycreeper in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve?
July has the highest sighting rate for Red-legged Honeycreeper in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in our monthly data.