Red-legged Honeycreeper

The strikingly plumaged Red-legged Honeycreeper also visited the feeders at the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge in northern Costa Rica. This small tanager is very common in Cuba, southern Mexico, and much of northern South America. Cornell’s Neotropical bird website assures us that the honeycreeper has a “catholic diet and will feed on fruit, insects, and even nectar in a variety of forest habitats.”

The first photo is of a male Red-legged Honeycreeper. The second is of a female. After they breed, males molt into a dull plumage. This may be the case in the third photo, which is either a non-breeding or immature male. Having a dull, non-breeding plumage is not typical of New World tropical songbirds.