ComingsBirds.com/Birdgroups-G-L

To the Beauty of Birds

The Purple Honeycreeper Cyanerpes caeruleus is a member of the large Thraupidae family of tanagers which includes honeycreepers in the genus Cyanerpes. Its range includes the northern parts of South America (see NatureServe range map).

The green honeycreeper is 5-5.5 in long and weighs 14 to 23 grams, averaging about 19 grams. It has a long decurved bill. The male is mainly blue-tinged green with a black head and a mostly bright yellow bill. The female green honeycreeper is grass-green, paler on the throat, and lacks the male's iridescence and black head. Immatures are plumaged similar to females. The call is a sharp chip.

This is a forest canopy species. The female green honeycreeper builds a small cup nest in a tree, and incubates the clutch of two brown-blotched white eggs for 13 days. It is less heavily dependent on nectar than the other honeycreepers, fruit being its main food (60%), with nectar (20%) and insects (15%) as less important components of its diet.

Photo 1471 was photographed at Discovery Cove, Orlando, FL. The focus on the bird is off. I will get it better next visit.

All the remaining photos were taken as ASA Wright Nature Center and surroundings, Trinidad.

Honeycreepers