Birdfinding.info ⇒ Fairly common on Dominica, especially in the interior and western slopes. It can usually be found on visits to the Syndicate Trail and the Emerald Pool. Uncommon and local on Martinique, but reliably found in the eastern foothills of the Carbet Mountains at Fonds-Saint-Denis and along the road up Mount Pelée.
Blue-headed Hummingbird
Cyanophaia bicolor
Endemic to Dominica and Martinique, where it inhabits mountain and foothill forests, edges, and second growth.
Identification
A stocky medium-sized hummingbird with a straight bill and a broad, notched tail.
The male appears blackish in low light, but when illuminated it glistens and sparkles in shades of green, turquoise, and blue, with deep violet blue on the head and tail.
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Fonds-Saint-Denis, Martinique; June 10, 2017.) © Josep del Hoyo
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Syndicate, Dominica; January 31, 2014.) © Nick Bonomo
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Martinique; May 2016.) © Marc Pommarel
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Morne Diablotin National Park, Dominica; November 30, 2010.) © Charles J. Sharp
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Martinique; May 2017.) © Marc Carvin
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Dominica; November 8, 2011.) © Don Faulkner
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Syndicate, Dominica; June 28, 2007.) © Jay Gilliam
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Syndicate, Dominica; December 21, 2016.) © Thomas Brooks
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Morne Diablotin National Park, Dominica; March 17, 2014.) © Alan Van Norman
Bahama Oriole. (Stafford Creek Lodge, North Andros, Bahamas; March 19, 2018.) © Stuart White
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Syndicate, Dominica; December 21, 2016.) © Thomas Brooks
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Morne Diablotin National Park, Dominica; January 8, 2015.) © Jim Tietz
Blue-headed Hummingbird, male. (Fonds-Saint-Denis, Martinique; August 26, 2014.) © Frantz Delcroix
Female has glittering green and coppery upperparts and whitish underparts, with a bluish crown and blackish mask. The throat and chest are strikingly pale, contrasting with the blackish mask and gray belly.
Blue-headed Hummingbird, female. (Martinique; May 2018.) © Marc Pommarel
Blue-headed Hummingbird, female. (Syndicate, Dominica; January 9, 2015.) © Jim Tietz
Notes
Monotypic species and genus.
References
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed August 15, 2019.)
Fogden, M., M. Taylor, and S.L. Williamson. 2014. Hummingbirds: A Life-size Guide to Every Species. HarperCollins, New York.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Schuchmann, K.L., and P. Boesman. 2019. Blue-headed Hummingbird (Cyanophaia bicolor). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/55457. (Accessed August 15, 2019.)