The Green Honeycreeper, Chlorophanes spiza, is a small bird in the tanager family. It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Brazil, and on Trinidad. It the only member of the genus Chlorophanes. The Purplish Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes purpurascens), a bird from Venezuela known only from the type specimen, is now thought to be an intergeneric hybridbetween the Green Honeycreeper and either the Red-legged Honeycreeper or the Blue Dacnis.
Description: The Green Honeycreeper is 13–14 cm (5-5.5 in) long and weighs 14 to 23 grams, averaging about 19 grams. It has a long decurved bill. The male is mainly blue-tinged green with a black head and a mostly bright yellow bill. The female Green Honeycreeper is grass-green, paler on the throat, and lacks the male’s iridescence and black head. Immatures are plumaged similar to females. The call is a sharp chip.
Behavior and Diet: This is a forest canopy species. The female Green Honeycreeper builds a small cup nest in a tree, and incubates the clutch of two brown-blotched white eggs for 13 days. It is less heavily dependent on nectar than the other honeycreepers, fruit being its main food (60%), with nectar (20%) and insects (15%) as less important components of its diet. In captivity: Paradise Earth Premium Softbill Blend, Insect Blend, Nectar, Fresh Fruit and live worms.