Cyanerpes cyaneus
The Red-legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus) is a captivating and strikingly beautiful tanager, often mistaken for a true honeycreeper due to its specialized nectar-feeding adaptations. Adult males are an exquisite spectacle, featuring a brilliant iridescent violet-blue body, contrasted by a velvety black mask, wings, and tail, and unmistakable bright scarlet red legs. They typically measure around 12-13 cm (4.7-5.1 in) in length and weigh between 12-19 grams (0.4-0.7 oz). Females present ...
This adaptable species inhabits humid tropical lowlands and foothills, preferring forest edges, clearings, secondary growth, plantations, and gardens. It is typically found at elevations from sea level up to 1,500 meters, occasionally ranging higher.
Primarily nectivorous, consuming nectar from a wide variety of flowers, supplemented by small arthropods (insects and spiders) and small, soft fruits. They forage by probing flowers with their decurved bills, gleaning insects from leaves, and occasionally hawking them in flight.
Red-legged Honeycreepers are highly active, diurnal birds, often seen flitting high in the canopy or foraging in lower shrubs. They are agile foragers, frequently hanging upside down to access flowers or glean insects from foliage. Males engage in vibrant courtship displays, showcasing their irid...
The Red-legged Honeycreeper boasts an extensive Neotropical distribution, ranging from southern Mexico through Central America, and across vast areas of northern and central South America. Its breeding range extends southward to Bolivia, Paraguay, and southeastern Brazil. It is a common resident ...
Least Concern
- Despite their common name, Red-legged Honeycreepers are not true honeycreepers but belong to the tanager family (Thraupidae). - Their brilliant iridescent blue plumage in males is structural, meaning the color is produced by the microscopic structure of the feathers, not pigments. - They are on...