Hispaniolan Euphonia

The Hispaniolan euphonia is about 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) long. The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males have a tawny yellow forehead that is separated from the forecrown by a narrow blackish strip. Their crown and nape are sky blue that extends forward from the latter under the ear coverts. The rest of their head and their throat are blackish violet. Their back and wing coverts are black with a dark blue gloss and their rump and uppertail coverts are rich tawny yellow. Their tail is dull black. Their flight feathers are dull black with thin medium blue edges. Their underparts are rich tawny yellow. Adult females have a deep yellow forehead with a dusky strip behind it. Their crown and nape are turquoise that curves forward like the male's. The rest of their head is mostly olive green with a yellow chin and throat. Their back, scapulars, wing coverts, and uppertail coverts are olive green with a slight metallic bluish green gloss. Their rump is yellowish olive green. Their tail is blackish with wide olive green feather edges. Their flight feathers are mostly blackish with thin olive green edges on the primaries and wide ones on the secondaries. Their breast is deep olive yellow and their belly, vent, and undertail coverts pure yellow. Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a black maxilla, a blue-gray mandible with a black tip, and dark gray to black legs and feet.

The Hispaniolan euphonia has a disjunct distribution across the island of Hispaniola in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and is also found on the small satellite Gonâve Island. It inhabits a variety of landscapes including the interior and edges of evergreen, deciduous, and pine forests and also nearby disturbed areas and shade coffee plantations. In all areas it favors trees with mistletoe (Loranthaceae). It ranges from sea level to the island's highest elevations.

The Hispaniolan euphonia feeds almost exclusively on small berries, especially those of mistletoe. It forages in pairs and occasionally joins mixed-species feeding flocks.