The shining honeycreeper is a small bird in the tanager family. It is found in the tropical New World in Central America from southern Mexico to Panama and northwest Colombia. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the purple honeycreeper, but the two species breed sympatrically in eastern Panama and northwest Colombia.
Region
Central America into northwest Colombia
Typical Environment
Occurs from southern Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, reaching into far northwestern Colombia. It favors humid lowland and foothill rainforests, forest edges, and second growth, and readily uses flowering trees in plantations and gardens. Most foraging is in the midstory to canopy, where it moves actively among blossoms and fruiting foliage. It is common in disturbed forest mosaics provided flowering resources are present.
Altitude Range
0–1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The shining honeycreeper is a small, brightly colored tanager of the forest canopy that often joins mixed-species foraging flocks. Males are vivid blue with a black mask and wings, while females are greenish with bluish tones on the throat; both sexes have striking yellow legs. It feeds with a fine, decurved bill suited to sipping nectar but also takes small fruits and insects. It has been compared closely to the purple honeycreeper, yet they occur together without interbreeding in parts of eastern Panama and northwest Colombia.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Often travels in pairs or small family groups and frequently joins mixed-species flocks in the canopy. Builds a small cup nest concealed in foliage, with both parents attending the young. Courtship involves active chasing and soft calls among branches.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are thin, high-pitched see and tsee notes, with rapid, sibilant trills. Songs are simple and brief, used mainly for contact and territory advertisement within dense foliage.
