Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Roberto Derna, Alberto Esquivel, Arne Lesterhuis, Myriam Velázquez and Sylvia Qu and are used with permission.
CHESTNUT-VENTED CONEBILL Conirostrum speciosum
As you watch the mass of birds zipping through the canopy and listen to the cacophany of buzzy noises produced by the birds overhead, you spot a tiny bird with bluish plumage and a chestnut vent. A quick check with the field guide reveals it to be the Chestnut-vented Conebill, you glance up again and he is gone. The conebill is an impatient character, he doesn´t hang around for anybody, pausing only to briefly hang upside down and probe the underside of a leaf to grab a tasty morsel. Males are almost unmistakeable, but the females are quite different, having neither a chestnut vent nor an obviously cone-shaped bill (you´ll need to have one in your hand to see that feature!). Fortunately the two are often in close association to help you out.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE1145PH) Adult male, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Sylvia Qu June 2008).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE1146PH) Adult male, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel May 2008).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE3309PH) Adult male ventral, Encarnación, Departamento Itapúa (roberto Derna December 2011).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE1147PH) Adult female, Departamento Ñeembucú (Arne Lesterhuis July 2010).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE1148PH) Adult female, Hotel Tirol, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith June).
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2
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FIGURE 3
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FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5
Conirostrum speciosum
1 (FPAVE1149RE) Call  recorded PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith March 2007).
2 (FPAVE1150RE) Call  recorded Itabó Rivas, Departamento Canindeyú (Myriam Velázquez April 2001).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website Xeno-Canto - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.