Birds of the World

    PASSERIFORMES: Thraupidae (Tanagers & Allies)  
Genus: Diglossa (18 species)

Genus Diglossa, Flowerpiercers, are small tanagers with thin bills with a curved tip used for piercing flowers to extract nectar. Males are generally colorful, while females are often drab shades of brown.



White-sided Flowerpiercer
White-sided Flowerpiercer (Diglossa albilatera albilatera) Male
Range: SA: Venezuela to Peru
Rio Blanco Ecological Reserve, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

White-sided Flowerpiercer
White-sided Flowerpiercer (Diglossa albilatera) Female
Range: SA: Venezuela to Peru
Rio Blanco Ecological Reserve, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Common flowerpiercer in gardens over 1500m. Look for flashes of white when seen hopping inside flowering bushes piercing flowers.
Acrobatics.
Immature

Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer
Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer (Diglossa baritula) Male
Range: MA: Mexico to Nicaragua
Oaxaca, Mexico  
   
Photograph by Aaron Maizlish     Copyright and usage info

Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer
Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer (Diglossa baritula montana) Female
Range: MA: Mexico to Nicaragua
Guatemala  
   
Photograph by Dominic Sherony     Copyright and usage info


Black-throated Flowerpiercer
Black-throated Flowerpiercer (Diglossa brunneiventris vuilleumieri)
Range: SA: Colombia to Chile
ProAves Dusky Starfrontlet Reserve, Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

A Peruvian species with an isolated population in northeast Colombia. Generally found at 2500-3000m in Colombia, and to lower altitudes in Peru.

Bluish Flowerpiercer
Bluish Flowerpiercer (Diglossa caerulescens saturata)
Range: SA: Venezuela to Bolivia
San Sebastian Reserve, Envigado, Antioquia, Colombia
  Bill less hooked than other flowerpiercers.
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Dull blue and black compared to Masked Flowerpiercer. Found inside the forest, and generally not in gardens. Travels in mixed flocks.

Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer
Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer (Diglossa carbonaria)
Range: SA: Bolivia and nw Argentina
Siberia, Bolivia  
   
Photograph by Bradley Hacker   © All Rights Reserved.

Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer
Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer (Diglossa carbonaria) Immature
Range: SA: Bolivia and nw Argentina
Quime, Bolivia  
   
Photograph by Joe Tobias   © All Rights Reserved.



Masked Flowerpiercer
Masked Flowerpiercer (Diglossa cyanea cyanea)
Range: SA: Venezuela to Bolivia
Rio Blanco Ecological Reserve, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Piercing a flower
Eating a berry.

Scaled Flowerpiercer
Scaled Flowerpiercer (Diglossa duidae)
Range: SA: tepuis
Venezuela  
   
Photograph by David Ascanio - www.abtbirds.com   © All Rights Reserved.

Grey with dark wings, male and female alike (Cornell).

Golden-eyed Flowerpiercer
Golden-eyed Flowerpiercer (Diglossa glauca glauca)
Range: SA: Colombia to Bolivia
Manu, Peru  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


Merida Flowerpiercer
Merida Flowerpiercer (Diglossa gloriosa)
Range: SA: Venezuela
Sierra de La Culata National Park, Venezuela  
   
Photograph by Margareta Wieser   © All Rights Reserved.


Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer
Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer (Diglossa gloriosissima boylei) Near Threatened
Range: SA: Colombia
ProAves Dusky Starfrontlet Reserve, Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


Black Flowerpiercer
Black Flowerpiercer (Diglossa humeralis aterrima)
Range: SA: Venezuela to Peru
Cajas National Park, Ecuador  
   
Photograph by Gary L. Clark     Copyright and usage info

Note matte colored compared to slightly larger Glossy Flowerpiercer. If you are not sure, it is probably a Glossy.

Indigo Flowerpiercer
Indigo Flowerpiercer (Diglossa indigotica)
Range: SA: w Colombia and nw Ecuador
ProAves Tangaras Reserve, El Carmen de Atrato, Choco, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Found in the rain belt around 1500 meters on the western Andean slope.

Glossy Flowerpiercer
Glossy Flowerpiercer (Diglossa lafresnayii)
Range: SA: Venezuela to Peru
PNN Los Nevados, Colombia
  Slightly larger than the Black Flowerpiercer, and shinier. Also compare the bill color to this photo.
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


Greater Flowerpiercer
Greater Flowerpiercer (Diglossa major)
Range: SA: tepuis
Venezuela  
   
Photograph by David Ascanio - www.abtbirds.com   © All Rights Reserved.


Moustached Flowerpiercer
Moustached Flowerpiercer (Diglossa mystacalis)
Range: SA: Peru and Bolivia
Peru  
   
Photograph by Robert Lewis   © All Rights Reserved.


Slaty Flowerpiercer
Slaty Flowerpiercer (Diglossa plumbea) Male
Range: MA: Costa Rica and w Panama
San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica  
   
Photograph by Jorge Obando Gutierrez   © Copyrighted, All Rights Reserved.

Slaty Flowerpiercer
Slaty Flowerpiercer (Diglossa plumbea) Female
Range: MA: Costa Rica and w Panama
Guadalupe, Panama  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


Rusty Flowerpiercer
Rusty Flowerpiercer (Diglossa sittoides dorbignyi) Male
Range: SA: Venezuela to nw Argentina
Finca Alejandria, Cali, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Rusty Flowerpiercer
Rusty Flowerpiercer (Diglossa sittoides) Female
Range: SA: Venezuela to nw Argentina
Colombia  
   
Photograph by Francesco Veronesi     Copyright and usage info

At favorite flowers.

No Image
Venezuelan Flowerpiercer (Diglossa venezuelensis) Endangered
Range: SA: Venezuela
   




© Tom Friedel - All Rights Reserved, except for images and data otherwise noted.       Colombia       Panama       Ecuador       Costa Rica       Mexico
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