Elegant Euphonia

The elegant euphonia is 10 cm (3.9 in) long and weighs 13 to 17 g (0.46 to 0.60 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies C. e. elegantissima have a rufous forehead with a thin black border behind it. Their crown and nape are bright turquoise-blue that extends forward from the latter under the ear coverts. The rest of their head and their throat are black. Their upperparts, tail, and wings are glossy purplish black. Their underparts are tawny-orange that is darkest on the breast. Adult females have a rufous forehead. Their crown and nape are bright sky-blue that curves forward like the male's. The rest of their head is olive with a cinnamon wash on the throat. Their upperparts are bright olive-green and their tail dark olive-green. Their upperwing coverts are olive-green and their flight feathers dusky with olive-green edges. Their breast and sides are yellowish olive and their belly and undertail coverts greenish yellow. Males of subspecies C. e. rileyi have a duller crown and nape than the nominate and more steely-blue upperparts, tail, and wings. Females are overall duller than the nominate with grayer upperparts. Males of subspecies C. e. vincens have a much lighter blue crown and nape than the nominate and females have plumage intermediate between those of the other two subspecies. …

The elegant euphonia has a highly disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus:

C. e. rileyi: southeastern Sonora and northeastern Sinaloa in northwestern Mexico C. e. elegantissima: western and central Mexico from southern Sinaloa, Guanajuato and Nuevo León south; from Chiapas into central and southern Guatemala; northeastern Guatemala and Belize; and from northern El Salvador and much of Honduras into northwestern Nicaragua C. e. vincens: mountains from the Cordillera de Tilarán in central Costa Rica into Panama to Veraguas Province The elegant euphonia inhabits a variety of landscapes including pine-oak, evergreen, and secondary forest in the upper tropical and subtropical zones. In all areas it favors trees with mistletoe (Loranthaceae). In elevation it mostly ranges from 1,000 to 2,500 m (3,300 to 8,200 ft) but regularly occurs down to 500 m (1,600 ft) in Mexico. In northern Central America it ranges from 500 to 3,050 m (1,600 to 10,000 ft) and in Costa Rica from 1,200 to 2,200 m (3,900 to 7,200 ft).

The elegant euphonia feeds almost exclusively on small berries, especially those of mistletoe. It forages in pairs or flocks of up to about 10 individuals that often roam in search of trees with ripe mistletoe.