Threnetes ruckeri
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The band-tailed barbthroat (Threnetes ruckeri) is a medium-sized hummingbird that is found from southeastern Guatemala and Belize to western Ecuador and western Venezuela. The band-tailed barbthroat has the three subspecies listed. A fourth proposed subspecies, T. r. darienensis of the Panama-Colombia border area, shares the characteristics of all three recognized subspecies. The band-tailed barbthroat and the other two members of its genus pale-tailed barbthroat (T. lecurus) and sooty barbthroat (T. niger) form a superspecies.
The band-tailed barbthroat is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long. Males weigh 5.5 to 7 g (0.19 to 0.25 oz) and females 5 to 7 g (0.18 to 0.25 oz).The adult male of the nominate subspecies has bronze-green upperparts, a dark ear patch and chin, and a dusky malar stripe. The tail is dark with white bases and tips to the feathers that create a black band near the end. The throat is ochraceous and the underparts are otherwise gray with some green feathers. It has a nearly straight bill. As with other hermit hummingbirds, the sexes are similar; the female's bill is somewhat more decurved than the male's and the plumage... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Cusuco National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 9 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | San Lorenzo Protected Forest | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 16 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇧🇿 Belize | |
| 18 | Pico Bonito National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 19 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 21 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Band-tailed Barbthroat sighting in Carara National Park on a given day, based on 342 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 230th most-seen of the 414 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Band-tailed Barbthroat in Carara National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–April and June–December, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Band-tailed Barbthroat sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Band-tailed Barbthroat sightings, Carara National Park ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%), Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%) and Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, about 10%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Band-tailed Barbthroat that you can see in Carara National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (about 40%), Scaly-breasted Hummingbird (about 20%) and Long-billed Hermit (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Band-tailed Barbthroat is recorded against all the birds logged in Carara National Park (342 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.
