Glossy Flowerpiercer (Diglossa lafresnayii)

Identification & Behavior: ~14.5 cm (5.7 in). The Glossy Flowerpiercer is all glossy black with a conspicuous blue shoulder patch.  Sexes are similar. The bill is silvery toward the base. It forages in humid forest edges, elfin forest, and in isolated shrubbery in paramo habitat.  It is similar to the Black Flowerpiercer but is distinguished by larger size, glossy black plumage, and noticeable blue shoulder patch.

Status: The Glossy Flowerpiercer is fairly common in elfin forests and humid scrub and shrubbery near tree-line at elevations ranging between 2000-3250 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Pinchaflor Satinado.

Sub-species: Glossy Flowerpiercer (Diglossa lafresnayi), (Boissonneau), 1840.

Meaning of Name: Diglossa: Gr. di, dis= double, twice and glossa= tongue. Glossy Flower-piercer – Pincha-Flor Satinado
lafresnayii: In honor of Noël Frédéric Armand André Baron de La Fresnaye (1783-1861) French ornithologist and collector.
Diglossa lafresnayii (Boissonneau), 1840

See more of the Family Thraupidae