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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) - male |
The Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) is a species of small songbird in the
Fringillidae family. It is found is confined to southern Central America, where it ranges from northern Costa Rica south to
western Panama. It has a beautiful mix of yellow, green, blue, and purple. The bird has a yellow breast and supercilium which is absent in the female. It has a bluish violet-crown (which is bluer in the female), blue eyering and a line of blue down its mantle toward its breast. This species is very distinctive within its range, its bright green separates it from many species, and it's the only chlorophonia in its range. The species is typically
uncommon and
somewhat local, being found in the canopy of
highland forests in subtropical or tropical moist
montane forests above 750 m (2,460 ft) elevation. In Panama it’s
uncommon in western foothills and highlands from Costa Rica border eastward to Coclé.
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) - male |
Males are striking and easily identified birds with bright grass green upperparts, throat and upper breast, while the rest of the underparts and broad supercilium are yellow; there is also a patch of bright green on the lower flanks, and the crown is violet-blue.
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) - female |
Females are somewhat less distinctive, but share the blue crown and nape, and have some yellow on the underparts, but are otherwise mainly green.
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) - female |
It has a soft whistling call: wheeeeuuu. In Costa Rica, its local common name is the
Rualdo, and there is a legend of how this bird used to have a wonderful singing voice, but offered that to the volcano
Poás to prevent a young woman of having to be sacrificed, thus keeping the volcano from eruption.
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) - male |
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) - female |
The diet of the Golden-browed Chlorophonia largely consists of fruits. This bird feeds from trees. A study in Monteverde, Costa Rica reported them eating fruit from fourteen species of plants, including strangler figs (Ficus), melastomes (Conostegia) and mistletoes (Gaiadendron).
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) - male |
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia callophrys) - female |
This species, appears to be monogamous. We found a nesting couple in
Boquete Tree Trek in Palo Alto, Boquete, Chiriquí. There the chlorophonias built a nest in a cave under a rock covered with liquen, on an open area and low level, close to the floor. They were not shy at all, and even perched on man-made elements like a zip line wire. This line was used to make the induction before the actual canopy tour. Other species we found on this short tour are found below:
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