Slaty Flowerpiercer

Diglossa plumbea

eBird gives this description for the Slaty Flowerpiercer:  Flowerpiercers have a unique upturned bill with a sharp hook at the tip; they use it to pierce the bases of flowers to extract nectar. The bill shape alone is enough to identify Slaty Flowerpiercer in its range; also note male’s uniform blue-gray plumage. Female is dull brown. Found in mountains above 1300m, usually in pairs foraging in bushes at the forest edge, shrubby second growth, and gardens.

The Birds of the World website has this descriptive information for the Slaty Flowerpiercer:  Formerly considered conspecific with the South American Rusty Flowerpiercer (Diglossa sittoides), the Slaty Flowerpiercer is found from northern Nicaragua to western Panama. Over the majority of this range it is the only flowerpiercer, and the species is therefore easily identified by the strange (in a small passerine), pronounced hook to the upper mandible. Males are predominantly blue-gray, whilst females are basically brown with paler underparts. They are found principally in semi-open wooded habitats, including gardens, above approximately 1300 m.

I met my first Slaty Flowerpiercer on the evening of February 8, 2023 at the Paraiso Lodge in Costa Rica.  I was walking a path headed down the hill to the lower hummingbird station when I noticed this bird cavorting in a nearby hedge.  His appearance was very brief, but I was lucky enough to get a photo that clearly shows its distinctive hooked bill.