Klais guimeti
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The violet-headed hummingbird (Klais guimeti) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is the only species in the genus Klais. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest.
The violet-headed hummingbird was formally described in 1843 by the French ornithologist Jules Bourcier from specimens collected near Caracas in Venezuela. Bourcier coined the binomial name Trochilus guimeti. The violet-headed hummingbird is now the only species placed in the genus Klais that was introduced in 1854 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. The genus is named after Kleis (or Cleis), the daughter of the Lesbian poet Sappho. The specific name was chosen to honour the French chemist Jean-Baptiste Guimet.
Three subspecies are recognised: Violet-headed hummingbirds are on average 8.1 cm (3.2 in) in length with a... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 6 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 9 | Pico Bonito National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 10 | Henri Pittier National Park | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 11 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 13 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 18 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 19 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 21 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 2 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Violet-headed Hummingbird sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 6,169 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 34th most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–April, July–August and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Violet-headed Hummingbird in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against about 20% in December, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Violet-headed Hummingbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Violet-headed Hummingbird sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%) and Chagres National Park (Panama, about 30%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Violet-headed Hummingbird that you can see in Arenal Volcano National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (about 70%), Scaly-breasted Hummingbird (about 30%) and Green Hermit (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Violet-headed Hummingbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (6,169 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
