Elegant Euphonia, Chlorophonia elegantissima

Elegant Euphonia, Chlorophonia elegantissima rileyi, Male. Photograph taken within a residential community in Alamos, Sonora, February 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Background and Identification

The Elegant Euphonia, Chlorophonia elegantissima rileyi, is one of three subspecies of Elegant Euphonia, two of which are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Fringillidae Family of Finches, Euphonias, and Allies, which has two hundred forty-nine members placed in forty-nine genera, and one of eight global species of the Chlorophonia Genus. They are known in Mexico as Eufonia Capucha-azul.

The Elegant Euphonia is very small in stature, being approximately 10 cm (3.9 inches) in length and averaging 13 g (0.46 oz) to 17 g (0.60 oz) in weight. They are sexually dimorphic, meaning males and females have differing characteristics and plumage that allow for differentiation. The females have a subtle light blue crown. The males have a bright blue crown and orange-rufous underparts. The females have a rufous forehead, bright sky-blue crown and nape, blue curling down the side of the neck behind the ear coverts, olive sides to their heads, bright olive-green upperparts and upper wing-coverts with dusky flight feathers, and dark olive-green tails. The throat of females is washed in cinnamon transitioning to yellowish-olive on the breast and sides and greenish-yellow bellies and undertail coverts. The males have a rufous forehead bordered with a thin black line, a turquoise-blue crown and nape and blue extending down the side of the neck behind the ear coverts, sides of the head and throat black, glossy purplish black upperparts, upper wing coverts, flight feathers, and tails. Male underparts are tawny-orange, and their underwing coverts are white. Their bills are small and black with a grayish lower mandible base, their iris is dark brown, and their legs are dusky gray.

Habitat and Geographical Range

The Elegant Euphonia is typically found within open pine-oak woodland, oak scrub, the borders of broadleaf evergreen forest and plantations, and in scattered trees in clearings at elevations between 500 m (1,640 feet) and 2,500 m (8,200) feet. Northern birds are known to make southern migrations during the coldest months and are found at lower elevations when they are not breeding. Birds that migrate seasonally to different elevations for milder weather or food are called altitudinal migrants. This species feeds almost entirely on the small soft berries of mistletoe. They are found in pairs, small groups of up to ten individuals. They roost in dense quarters in groups of fifty individuals in close quarters and disperse at dawn.

The Elegant Euphonia is a year-round resident of Mexico, found in northwest, western, and central Mexico from Sinaloa south to Guanajuato and Nuevo Leon and within the mountains south to Belize and Guatemala. The rileyi subspecies is limited to northwest Mexico in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa.

Common Misidentifications

The Elegant Euphonia is very similar to the Antillean Euphonia, Chlorophonia musica, and the Golden-rumped Euphonia, Chlorophonia cyanocephala, which are found in the Caribbean and South America. The Antillean Euphonia has a more pronounced yellow underbelly, and does not venture to as high of elevations as the Elegant Euphonia. Elegant Euphonias are often found in humid oak forests up to 3,500 meters high. The Golden-rumped Euphonia is larger (being 11.5 cm on average) and the yellow on its underbelly extends to its rump.

Conservation Perspective

From a conservation perspective the Elegant Euphonia is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Deforestation in many parts of its range poses a large threat to its habitat. Preservation of tropical forests and conservation of fruit-bearing trees in these ecosystems will be essential to ensuring the continued health of this species’ population.