Heliodoxa jacula
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The green-crowned brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) is species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama. It is also known as the green-fronted brilliant.
Male green-crowned brilliants are 12 to 13 cm (4.7 to 5.1 in) long and females 10.5 to 12 g (0.37 to 0.42 oz). One female weighed 7.4 g (0.26 oz). Both sexes of all subspecies have a white spot behind the eye and a forked tail, though that of the female is not as deeply indented as the male's.
Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a glittering green to blue-green head and breast with a small metallic violet-blue patch on the throat. The upperparts and belly are bronzy green, the vent area white, and the thighs also white. The tail is blue-black. Adult females' blue-green head is not shiny like the male's. They also have a short white malar stripe. Their underparts are whitish and heavily spotted with green; the spots merge on the flanks. The tail is black and the outer feathers have... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 11 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Green-crowned Brilliant sighting in Braulio Carrillo National Park on a given day, based on 304 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 190th most-seen of the 505 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February to October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Green-crowned Brilliant in Braulio Carrillo National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to January, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green-crowned Brilliant sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Green-crowned Brilliant sightings, Braulio Carrillo National Park ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Poás Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 80%), Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica, about 30%) and Volcán Barú National Park (Panama, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Green-crowned Brilliant that you can see in Braulio Carrillo National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (about 50%), Green Hermit (about 30%) and Violet-headed Hummingbird (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green-crowned Brilliant is recorded against all the birds logged in Braulio Carrillo National Park (304 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.
