All species › Passerines › Finches, euphonias and allies › Blue-naped Chlorophonia
Blue-naped Chlorophonia | Chlorophonia cyanea
Blauwnekorganist | Clorofonia nuquiazul | Gaturamo-bandeira
The Blue-naped Chlorophonia is a small, bright green and yellow chlorophonia of humid montane forest. Despite its bright colours it is inconspicuous in the green canopy; often only its soft, plaintive call gives it away. It has a large, fragmented range, from the Andes to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.
Voice
A soft, descending, rather plaintive whistle, often repeated a few times, also in flight; also soft, nasal and chattering notes.
Recording: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
11–12 cm, compact, with a short bill and a short tail. The male is bright green on the head, throat, breast and wings, with a bright blue band across the hindcrown and nape and a narrow blue eye-ring. The rest of the underparts are bright yellow, sharply demarcated from the green breast. In Andean birds the back and rump are also largely blue. The female is duller, green with a blue nape and greenish-yellow underparts. Young birds are plain green, with little or no blue.
Confusion species
Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia Chlorophonia pyrrhophrys has a blue crown edged with black and a chestnut stripe down the centre of the underparts; it usually lives higher. Yellow-collared Chlorophonia Chlorophonia flavirostris occurs only west of the Andes and has a yellow nape band and orange bill and legs. Females of other euphonias are olive-green, without blue on the nape.
Habitat
Humid foothill and lower montane forest, cloud forest and forest edges, mainly between 600 and 2500 m. It stays in the canopy, feeding in pairs or small groups on mistletoe berries and other small fruit; it sometimes joins mixed tanager flocks. The nest is a globular structure of moss with a side entrance, on a mossy branch or against a bank.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in the Andes and in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, locally also in the Serranía de la Macarena. In Ecuador mainly on the eastern slope of the Andes. In Peru on the eastern slope along the whole length of the country. In Bolivia on the eastern slope, in the Yungas. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in the mountains of Venezuela, on the tepuis and in the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In montane forest at middle elevations, listen for the soft, descending whistle from the canopy and then scan the crowns of trees with mistletoe. Birds often sit still and are noticed in the foliage only when they move.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species is widespread and persists at the edges of disturbed forest; deforestation on the Andean slopes locally reduces its habitat.
Scientific name
Chlorophonia cyanea | (Thunberg, 1822)
Thunberg described the species in 1822 as Pipra cyanea; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Chlorophonia was introduced in 1851 by Bonaparte. The genus name combines Greek chlōros, 'green', with the genus name Euphonia. The species name comes from Greek kyaneos, 'dark blue'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.