Elegant Euphonia
Photo © Grete Pasch
Photo © Grete Pasch — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist photo #120951720The elegant euphonia or blue-hooded euphonia (Chlorophonia elegantissima) is a species of bird in the family Fringillidae, the finches and euphonias. It is found in Mexico and every Central American country. == Taxonomy and systematics == The elegant euphonia has a complicated taxonomic history. It was originally described in 1838 with the binomial Pipra elegantissima, mistakenly identifying it as a manakin. It was eventually reassigned to genus Euphonia that had been erected in 1806. For a time the elegant euphonia, the golden-rumped euphonia (now C. cyanocephala), and the Hispaniolan euphonia (now C. musica) were treated as a single species called the blue-hooded euphonia. They were separated by 1998 and formed a superspecies. Following further studies, in the early 2020s those three species were reassigned by most taxonomic systems to their present genus Chlorophonia that had been erected in 1851. The first version of AviList (2025) also places the elegant euphonia in Chlorophonia. However, as of 2025 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retains it in Euphonia. Genera Euphonia and Chlorophonia were long placed in the family Thraupidae, the "true" tanagers. Multiple studies in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries resulted in their being reassigned to their…
Manuel Antonio National Park
Quepos, Costa Rica
+426 birds+22 mammals
Where tropical rainforest descends steeply to a rocky Pacific coastline, Manuel Antonio National Park distills Central American biodiversity into one of Costa Rica's most compressed and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKChirripó National Park
Rivas, Costa Rica
+274 birds+6 mammals
Where the volcanic spine of Costa Rica's Central Cordillera reaches its apex, Chirripó National Park encompasses a landscape that shifts dramatically with elevation, from montane cloud…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBraulio Carrillo National Park
Las Horquetas, Costa Rica
+547 birds+18 mammals
Where the Caribbean slope descends from the central volcanic cordillera toward the humid lowlands of Heredia, Braulio Carrillo National Park preserves one of Costa Rica's most…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKVolcán Poás National Park
Toro Amarillo, Costa Rica
+237 birds+4 mammals
Where volcanic slopes rise sharply from the Central Valley floor, Volcán Poás National Park protects one of Costa Rica's most active and accessible volcanic systems. The…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBaru Volcano National Park
Cerro Punta, Panama
+402 birds+6 mammals
Where the land rises sharply toward the Caribbean's western spine, Baru Volcano National Park sprawls across roughly 220 square kilometres of southwestern Panama, anchored by the…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKParque Internacional la Amistad
Teribe, Panama
+325 birds+11 mammals
Where the continental divide rises between the Caribbean and Pacific watersheds, a wilderness of extraordinary biological richness unfolds across the Talamanca Range and into lowland rainforest—a…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLagunas de Montebello National Park
Laguna de Montebello, Mexico
+360 birds+2 mammals
Where turquoise lagoons pierce the limestone plateau of southeastern Chiapas, the Lagunas de Montebello National Park unfolds across roughly 174 square kilometers of spectral water and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKParque Nacional Benito Juárez
San Andrés Huayápam, Mexico
+128 birds+4 mammals
High in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Oaxaca, where cloud forest mingles with pine woodland and the terrain climbs steeply through ravines carved by mountain…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMontes Azules
Candelaria, Mexico
+395 birds+47 mammals
Where jungle-clad limestone plateaus plunge into canyon systems carved by the Usumacinta River, Mexico's most pristine rainforest reserve unfolds across the Lacandón region of Chiapas. Montes…
VIEW BIOSPHERE RESERVELos Quetzales National Park
Copey, Costa Rica
+232 birds+3 mammals
Cloud forest sweeps across the upper slopes of the Central Valley watershed, where elevation and persistent moisture forge an ecosystem unlike any other in Costa Rica.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKTapantí Macizo de la Muerte National Park
Orosi, Costa Rica
+503 birds+18 mammals
Where montane cloud forest rises steeply from the Orosi Valley, Tapantí Macizo de la Muerte National Park enfolds a landscape of perpetual moisture and emerald complexity.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLa Amistad International Park
Crorina, Costa Rica
+532 birds+20 mammals
Where the Caribbean slopes of Costa Rica's Talamanca Mountains rise steeply inland from Limón, the boundary between two nations dissolves into an unbroken expanse of rainforest.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNo community photos yet. Log in to add the first one.
No community observations of this species yet.