- Chlorophonia elegantissima
Identification
10 cm (4 in)
- Blue crown, nape and half collar
- Orange forehead
- Black face
- Dark blue upperparts
- Orange underparts
Female
- Blue crown, nape and half collar
- Orange forehead
- Green overall plumage
Distribution
Central America: found in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- C. e. rileyi:
- Montane forests of north-western Mexico (south-eastern Sonora and north-eastern Sinaloa)
- C. e. elegantissima:
- Northern Mexico (southern Sinaloa and south-western Tamaulipas) to north-western Guatemala
- C. e. vincens:
- South-eastern Guatemala to western Panama
Habitat
Damp cloud forest, mixed woodland edge.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists almost entirely of small berries, particularly mistletoe.
Breeding
They construct a rounded nest with a side entrance from rootlets and grass stems.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
Male
Peter R. Bono
Highway 175 near Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico, July 2009
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References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Sept 2018)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Elegant Euphonia. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Elegant_Euphonia
