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Diglossa plumbea

Photo by Carlos B
Location: Cataratas La Paz, Costa Rica.

[edit] Identification

10cm. Blue-grey with a lead-grey throat and breast. The tail and wings are black with grey feather edges. The female is olive-brown above with a paler throat and breast shading to buff on the belly. Young birds are like the female but have two tawny wing bars and faintly streaked buff-yellow underparts. An upturned bill with a hooked upper mandible and pointed lower mandible.

[edit] Distribution

Costa Rica to western Panama.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Habitat

Mountain forest canopy, edge of the forest, in clearings, and in gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

The birds approach a flower from behind, pierce a hole in the corolla, and then insert their brush-tipped tongue into the hole to extract the flower nectar, often without pollinating the flower.

The female builds a large cup nest of coarse plant material and lined with fine fibres, placed 0.4 to 4 m up in a dense shrub, grass tussock or pine. 2 brown-speckled pale blue eggs are laid, and are incubated by the female alone for 12-14 days to hatching.

[edit] External Links