Shining honeycreeper facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shining honeycreeper
Male
Female
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Thraupidae
Genus:	Cyanerpes
Species:	C. lucidus
Binomial name
Cyanerpes lucidus (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1859)
Script error: The function "autoWithCaption" does not exist.

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

The shining honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus) is a small, colorful bird. It belongs to the tanager family. You can find this bird in warm parts of the New World. It lives in Central America, from southern Mexico all the way to Panama. It also lives in northwest Colombia.

Some people used to think it was the same as the purple honeycreeper. But these two bird species actually live and have babies in the same areas. This happens in eastern Panama and northwest Colombia.

About the Shining Honeycreeper

This bird loves to live high up in the forest canopy. That means it stays in the tops of tall trees. You might also see it at the edges of forests. Sometimes, it lives in newer, regrowing forests too.

What Does It Look Like?

The shining honeycreeper is about 10 cm long. That's about the length of your hand. It weighs around 11 grams, which is very light! It has a long, black, downward-curved beak.

The male shining honeycreeper is a beautiful purple-blue color. Its wings, tail, and throat are black. Its legs are a bright yellow. The female looks different. She has green feathers on her upper body. Her head is a greenish-blue. Her throat is a light brown color. Her belly is bluish with light brown streaks. Young birds look a lot like the female. But their heads and chests are even greener.

Sounds and Calls

The call of this honeycreeper is a thin, high-pitched sound. It sounds like seee. The male bird has a special song. He repeats pit pit pit pit pit-pit for many minutes.

How Is It Different From Other Birds?

The shining honeycreeper looks very much like the purple honeycreeper. But the male purple honeycreeper is a bit darker. Its black throat patch is also smaller. The female purple honeycreeper has light brown feathers between her eye and beak. The female shining honeycreeper has darker feathers there. Also, the female purple honeycreeper's head doesn't have a clear blue color.

It's easy to tell the shining honeycreeper apart from the larger red-legged honeycreeper. Both birds live in the same areas. But the red-legged honeycreeper has red legs. And the male red-legged honeycreeper has black feathers on its back.

What Does It Eat?

Shining honeycreepers are usually seen in pairs. Sometimes, you'll see them in small family groups. They eat nectar from flowers. They also enjoy berries and small insects. They mostly find their food high up in the tree canopy. These birds also pay attention to the calls of the ferruginous pygmy owl.

Reproduction

The female shining honeycreeper builds a shallow, cup-shaped nest. She builds it in a tree. She lays a clutch of two eggs. She then sits on the eggs to keep them warm until they hatch.