Conirostrum speciosum
The Chestnut-vented Conebill (Conirostrum speciosum) is a diminutive and active passerine, measuring approximately 11 cm (4.3 inches) in length and weighing a mere 8-11 grams. Males are striking with their slate-blue to blue-gray upperparts, a conspicuous black mask extending from the lores to behind the eye, a clean white throat, and a diagnostic rusty-chestnut vent that gives the species its name; their underparts are a washed-out yellow to whitish. Females are duller, exhibiting a more gre...
Found primarily in humid lowland forests, forest edges, and secondary growth, often near water sources. It inhabits elevations ranging from sea level up to about 1200-1500 meters in the Andean foothills, but is most common below 800 meters.
Feeds on a mixed diet of nectar, which it sips from a variety of flowers using its specialized conical bill, and small insects. It also occasionally consumes small fruits.
This Chestnut-vented Conebill is a highly active and diurnal bird, often seen flitting quickly through the canopy and subcanopy, either solitarily or, more commonly, as a regular component of mixed-species foraging flocks. Foraging involves acrobatic maneuvers, including gleaning insects from lea...
The Chestnut-vented Conebill is widely distributed across much of tropical South America, inhabiting a large area east of the Andes. Its range extends from eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, and the Guianas, south through much of the Amazon Basin in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. It is al...
Least Concern
- The Chestnut-vented Conebill is one of the smallest species within the diverse Thraupidae (tanager) family, showcasing incredible agility for its size. - Its distinctive chestnut vent is one of its most reliable field marks, a 'signature' patch of color. - Despite its name, conebills are not tr...