Venezuelan Flowerpiercer

The Venezuelan flowerpiercer is, on average, 12.7 cm (5.0 in) long. Males are almost wholly dull black, with small white patches on the pectorals at the edge of the wing and some white on the underside of the wing. Females have brownish-olive upper bodies with yellowish-olive heads, yellowish-olive throats and breasts, and gray to brown-olive on the rest of the belly. The pectorals and underside of the wing have white patches. The upper mandible of the beak ends in a sharp, downcurving hook. Compared to the white-sided flowerpiercer, the male Venezuelan flowerpiercer has a darker black plumage, instead of slate-gray, and more limited white on the pectorals and underwing. Females are darker and have more restricted white.

The Venezuelan flowerpiercer is, as the name suggests, endemic to Venezuela, where it has a very small range restricted to a few mountain ranges in the northeast of the country. It is known from the Cordillera de Caripe, Paria Peninsula, and Cerro Negro. It inhabits moist montane forests, as well as secondary forests and scrublands near forests. Its elevational range is 1,525–2,450 m (5,000–8,040 ft) on the Turimiquire Massif and 1,675–1,775 m (5,500–5,820 ft) on Cerro Negro. On the Paria Peninsula, it has been recorded as low as 885 m (2,900 ft), probably as part of a seasonal migration to lower elevations for food.