Rusty Flowerpiercer - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Pitter
Dapa-Valle Colombia

Diglossa sittoides

Identification

Female. Note the pale tertial fringes
Photo by Pitter
Dapa.Valle Colombia

11 cm (4¼ in); Bicolored
Male: Bluish above and Cinnamon below. Face somewhat darker.
'Female is brownish green above and a dingy yellow below with streaks on throat and chest.

Similar species

Female White-sided Flowerpiercer is often darker brown with a (usually concealed) whitish flank stripe. Female Rusty may show yellowish wing bars and (especially) pale fringes to the tertials. It may also be paler overall with a pale lower mandible base.

Distribution

Juvenile
Photo by STEFFRO1
Ollantaytambo, Peru, August 2015

South America: found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina

Taxonomy

Male, Subspecies hyperythra
Photo © by njlarsen
Mountain House, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia,19 August 2023

There are 6 subspecies^[1]:

Subspecies

• D. s. hyperythra:

Northern Colombia (Santa Marta Mountains) and coastal mountains of northern Venezuela

• D. s. dorbignyi:

Andes of Colombia and western Venezuela (Lara, Mérida and Táchira)

• D. s. coelestis:

Sierra de Perijá (Colombia/Venezuela border)

• D. s. mandeli:

• Subtropical mountains of north-eastern Venezuela (Mount Turumiquire in Sucre)

• D. s. decorata:

• Subtropical Andes of Ecuador and Peru

• D. s. sittoides:

• Subtropical Andes of western Bolivia and north-western Argentina

Habitat

Mountainous areas, particularly shrubby areas, pastures, open woodland scrub and forest edges.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists of nectar and a variety of small insects.

References

1. 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/
2. Lepage D. (2023) [Avibase - https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37129013 ]. Retrieved 6 October 2023
3. McQuen, K., E. R. Funk, C. H. Richart, and K. J. Burns (2020). Rusty Flowerpiercer (Diglossa sittoides), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rusflo1.01

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Rusty Flowerpiercer. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rusty_Flowerpiercer

External Links

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