Blue-backed Conebill (Conirostrum sitticolor)

Identification & Behavior: ~13 cm (5.1 in). The Blue-backed Conebill has mostly blue upperparts and rufous underparts. It can have a black hood (sitticolor) or blue head with a black cap and throat (cyaneum). It has a short but pointy bill. Both sexes are similar. The Blue-backed Conebill forages in the canopy of humid montane forest often in the company of mixed species flocks. It is superficially similar to the White-browed Conebill but is distinguished by a blue back and black hood. The Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager is larger and does not have a black hood.

Status: The Blue-backed Conebill is uncommon in montane forests of the east and west (Piura and Cajamarca) slopes of the Andes at elevations ranging between 2300-3600 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Pico-de-Cono de Dorso Azul.

Sub-species: Blue-backed Conebill (Conirostrum sitticolor sitticolor), Lafresnaye, 1840.  Andes in Venezuela (S Táchira), and from Colombia S to N Peru (Piura, Cajamarca and Amazonas).
(Conirostrum sitticolor cyaneum), Taczanowski, 1875.  Andes of Peru (from Huánuco) S to Bolivia (La Paz, Cochabamba and W Santa Cruz).

Meaning of Name: Conirostrum: L. conus= cone and rostrum= bill. sitticolor: L. color, coloris= color. The plumage of the Blue-backed Conebill was considered analogous to that of Serrirostrum sittoides.

See more of the Family Thraupidae