Birds Guide

Honeycreeper
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Passeriformes   Family: Thraupidae   Genus: Cyanerpes
Species
See text.

The Honeycreepers are small birds in the tanager family. They are found in the tropical New World from Mexico south to Brazil.

They occur in the forest canopy, and, as the name implies, they are specialist nectar feeders with long curved bills.

The four Cyanerpes species have colourful legs, long wings and a short tail. The males are typically glossy purple-blue and the females greenish.

The Green Honeycreeper is called a Honeycreeper, but belongs to the monotypic Chlorophanes genus. It has a larger, stouter bill than the Cyanerpes group, and is less heavily dependent on nectar.

Honeycreeper is also the name of an independent rock band from upstate New York. [1]

Species

• Short-billed Honeycreeper, Cyanerpes nitidus
  Shining Honeycreeper, Cyanerpes lucidus
  Purple Honeycreeper, Cyanerpes caeruleus
  Red-legged Honeycreeper, Cyanerpes cyaneus

References

• Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
• Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1

External links

• Honeycreeper videos on the Internet Bird Collection