The red-legged honeycreeper is a small songbird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and on Cuba, where possibly introduced. It is also rarely found in southern Texas.
Region
Central America and northern South America
Typical Environment
Occurs from southern Mexico through Central America into Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Peru, Bolivia, and central Brazil. It is also present on Trinidad and Tobago and introduced on Cuba; strays rarely reach southern Texas. Typical habitats include humid forest edges, secondary growth, plantations, and gardens, where it forages from understory to canopy. It tolerates disturbed habitats and often follows flowering trees and shrubs. In many areas it is a familiar visitor to ornamental plantings and feeders.
Altitude Range
0–1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
The red-legged honeycreeper is a small, vibrant tanager famous for the male’s electric blue plumage and bright red legs. It frequents flowers for nectar but also eats insects and small fruits, often joining mixed-species flocks. Pairs build a small cup nest, with the female incubating and the male assisting in feeding chicks. It adapts well to secondary growth and gardens, which helps it remain common across much of its range.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Often travels in pairs or small groups and readily joins mixed-species flocks in fruiting or flowering trees. The cup-shaped nest is built in shrubs or small trees; the female incubates 2 eggs while the male helps provision the nestlings. Courtship includes subtle displays and mutual calling.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Calls are thin, high-pitched tsee and tsip notes, often given in quick series. The song is a soft, sibilant twittering interspersed with sharp chips, more a series of call-like notes than a sustained melody.
Plumage
Males in breeding plumage are vivid blue with black wings, tail, and mask, and a glossier blue crown; non-breeding males are duller. Females and immatures are greenish-olive above with bluish or teal tints and paler underparts. Plumage is sleek and close-fitting, aiding quick, agile flight.
Diet
Takes nectar from a variety of flowers, probing with its slender, slightly decurved bill. Supplements nectar with small fruits and berries, particularly from shrubs and second-growth trees. Also gleans small insects and spiders from foliage and occasionally hawks tiny flying insects. Will visit feeders for sugar water or fruit in some areas.
Preferred Environment
Feeds from understory to canopy, concentrating where trees and shrubs are flowering or fruiting. Common along forest edges, in secondary growth, cocoa and coffee plantations, and suburban gardens. Often forages in the company of other tanagers and small insectivores.
