All species › Passerines › Finches, euphonias and allies › Golden-rumped Euphonia
Golden-rumped Euphonia | Chlorophonia cyanocephala
Goudstuitorganist | Eufonia lomidorada | Gaturamo-rei
The Golden-rumped Euphonia is the light-blue-hooded euphonia of the Andes. It depends heavily on mistletoe berries and therefore wanders in small groups through montane forest, forest edges and semi-open country. It was long lumped with related species from Central America and the Caribbean.
Voice
A soft, rather plaintive whistle, often given in flight, and a varied, chattering song of clear, twittering and rasping notes, sometimes with imitations of other birds.
Recording: Juan Freile — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
11 cm, with a short, thick bill. The male has a light blue crown and nape, a narrow black forehead, black cheeks and throat, and glossy blue-black upperparts with a golden-yellow rump. The underparts are orange-yellow. The female is olive-green with a light blue crown and nape, a rufous forehead and yellowish olive-green underparts; the rump is greenish yellow. Young males at first resemble the female and acquire the dark plumage gradually.
Confusion species
Elegant Euphonia of Central America lacks the yellow rump and has a chestnut forehead; in the guide area it is at most an extremely rare vagrant. Blue-naped Chlorophonia Chlorophonia cyanea is mostly bright green with only a blue nape band. Other euphonias in the guide area have no blue hood; their females lack the blue crown.
Habitat
Edges of humid montane forest, open woodland, secondary growth, plantations and trees in semi-open country, mainly between 1000 and 3000 m, locally lower. It feeds mainly on mistletoe berries, also on other small fruit, foraging in tree crowns, often in pairs or small groups. The nest is a globular structure with a side entrance, tucked among moss or epiphytes.
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 all three Andean ranges and in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. In Ecuador on both slopes of the Andes and in the inter-Andean valleys. In Peru mainly on the eastern slope, also locally in the north-west. In Bolivia on the eastern slope of the Andes. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in Venezuela, on the tepuis of the Guiana Shield and in south-eastern Brazil, Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Look for treetops with flowering or fruiting mistletoe along forest edges and mountain roads; the groups return to them repeatedly. The soft whistle gives away birds flying over.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species tolerates fragmented landscapes with trees well. Locally birds are trapped for the cage-bird trade.
Scientific name
Chlorophonia cyanocephala | (Vieillot, 1818) (GBIF: Euphonia cyanocephala)
Vieillot described the species in 1818 as Pipra cyanocephala; 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', and kephalē, 'head': 'blue-headed'. The specimen the first description was based on came from (per the description).