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Short-billed Honeycreeper | Cyanerpes nitidus
Kortsnavelsuikervogel | Mielero piquicorto | Saí-de-bico-curto
The Short-billed Honeycreeper is the smallest honeycreeper, a compact blue and black bird of the canopy of Amazonian forest. Its short, barely curved bill separates it from the related Purple Honeycreeper. It lives high in the canopy and is seen mainly at flowering and fruiting trees and with mixed flocks.
Voice
Gives thin, high tseet notes; a distinct song is barely known.
Recording: Daniel F. Lane — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
9 cm, compact and short-tailed, with a short, almost straight black bill. The male is bright purplish blue with black lores, a black throat that extends as a bib onto the upper breast, and black wings and tail; the legs are pinkish red. The female is green, with a pale ochre throat, a faint blue malar stripe and yellowish-green, lightly streaked underparts. Juveniles resemble the female.
Confusion species
Purple Honeycreeper Cyanerpes caeruleus has a clearly longer, curved bill, a smaller black throat and, in the male, bright yellow legs; the female has a stronger ochre head and a distinct blue malar stripe. Male Red-legged Honeycreeper Cyanerpes cyaneus has a turquoise crown, a black back and red legs. Blue Dacnis Dacnis cayana has a more pointed bill and no black bib.
Habitat
Canopy and tall edges of humid lowland forest on terra firme and in várzea, locally also in tall secondary forest, mainly below 500 m. It eats nectar, small fruits and insects gleaned from leaves, and joins canopy mixed flocks. The nest is a small cup high in a tree.
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 Amazonian lowlands in the south-east. In Ecuador in the Amazonian lowlands east of the Andes. In Peru widespread in the Amazonian lowlands, especially in the north. In Bolivia only a few records in the north. Does not occur on the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in southern Venezuela, the Guianas and Amazonian Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
From canopy towers and walkways in Amazonian Ecuador and Peru, at flowering or fruiting trees; check every honeycreeper with a short bill and a large black throat carefully.
Conservation status
Least Concern. Rather scarce but widespread in large, continuous lowland forest; suffers locally from deforestation.
Scientific name
Cyanerpes nitidus | (Hartlaub, 1847)
Hartlaub described the species in 1847 as Coereba nitida; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Cyanerpes was introduced in 1899 by Oberholser. The genus name combines Greek kuanos, 'dark blue', and herpēs, 'creeper'. The species name is Latin nitidus, 'glossy'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Northern Peru.