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 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve
Cinnamon-bellied Saltator
Saltator grandis
Black-headed Saltator
Saltator atriceps
Blue-gray Tanager
Thraupis episcopus
Morelet's Seedeater
Sporophila morelleti
Gray-headed Tanager
Eucometis penicillata
Bananaquit
Coereba flaveola
Yellow-winged Tanager
Thraupis abbas
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Tiaris olivaceus
Blue-black Grassquit
Volatinia jacarina
Great-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus mexicanus
Tropical Mockingbird
Mimus gilvus
Social Flycatcher
Myiozetetes similis
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 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-legged Honeycreeper sighting in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, based on 164 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Red-legged Honeycreeper in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve?
June has the highest sighting rate for Red-legged Honeycreeper in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in our monthly data.