Order:

Passeriformes

Family:

Thraupidae

The masked flowerpiercer (Diglossa cyanea) is a species of bird in the tanager family, Thraupidae. It is a small bird that lives in the Andean forests, despite having a showy plumage it can go unnoticed, since it lives in the middle of thick vegetation, and also because it generally flies through the treetops.

Description

The masked flowerpiercer grows to a length of about 15 cm (6 in). The adult male is deep ultramarine blue with a dark mask. The beak is large, black, and upturned, with a characteristic hook on the tip of the upper mandible. The iris is bright red. The female is similar in appearance but altogether duller. The juvenile has a reddish-brown iris.

Distribution

It is distributed in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia

Habitat

Its natural habitats are forests and humid montane scrub.

Feeding

Unlike most of the species of the Diglossa genus that feed mainly on nectar, the masked flowerpiercer shows a marked preference for wild fruits, which make up a good part of its diet.

Breeding

Their nest is bowl-shaped, made of moss, dry grass and feathers, placed on a sheltered bush.

Behavior

The Masked Flowerpiercer regularly forages in pairs or in groups within mixed-species flocks, gleaning for insects, eating small fruit and probing into flowers for nectar. They usually forage at treetops, but occasionally low in fruiting bushes. But it rarely descends to the ground.

Taxonomy

The species Diglossa cyanea was described and included in a monotypic genus Diglossopis, to which three other species were subsequently incorporated.

Conservation status

At the national and international level, it is classified as a species of least concern

Vocalization/ Song

https://www.xeno-canto.org/578573

References

http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-masked-flowerpiercer.html