Blue-mantled Thornbill - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies stanleyi
Photo by Stanley Jones
Parque El Cajas, Azuay Province, Ecuador, November 2014

Chalcostigma stanleyi

Identification

12–13 cm; Long forked tail
Male

• Short, straight, black bill
• Sooty-brown plumage
• Turquoise uppertail-coverts
• Undertail coverts (crissum) whitish with sooty or ochraceous darker markings. Feathers towards base of feet whiter (somewhat like "boots"). Note that none of: the Ridgely guide to birds of Ecuador, the Proves Colombia guide, the Schulenburg et al Peru guide accurately show this.

Distribution

South America: found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies^[1]:

• C. s. stanleyi:

• Páramo of Andes of Ecuador

• C. s. versigulare:

• Andes of Peru (east of Río Marañón) to Carpish Mountains

• C. s. vulcani:

• Andes of eastern Peru (south of Río Huallaga) to western Bolivia

Habitat

Steep slopes of humid páramo vegetation observed at heights around 3970-4000 m.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists of nectar from small flowers, particularly berberis and gauteria.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2015)
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Blue-mantled Thornbill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue-mantled_Thornbill

External Links

Search for photos of Blue-mantled Thornbill in the gallery