Chrysolampis mosquitus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The ruby-topaz hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus), commonly referred to simply as the ruby topaz, is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae, the mangoes. It is found in Aruba, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, Colombia, Curaçao, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
The ruby-topaz hummingbird was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Trochilus mosquitus. The type locality is Suriname. The ruby-topaz hummingbird is now the only species placed in the genus Chrysolampis, which was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1831. The name Chrysolampis is from the Ancient Greek khrusolampis meaning "glow-worm". The specific name mosquitus is a Spanish diminutive and means "little fly". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The ruby-topaz hummingbird is 8 to 9.5 cm (3.1 to 3.7 in) long and weighs 2.5 to 5 g (0.09 to 0.18 oz). Its almost straight, black bill is relatively short compared to those of most other hummingbirds. The male has dark brown upperparts with an olive gloss. Its crown... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main Ridge Forest Reserve | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 2 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 6 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Ruby-topaz Hummingbird sighting in Chapada Diamantina National Park on a given day, based on 78 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 104th most-seen of the 271 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Ruby-topaz Hummingbird in Chapada Diamantina National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–February, April, July and September, the lowest months. That is one of Chapada Diamantina National Park's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain against 50 mm in June.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ruby-topaz Hummingbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Ruby-topaz Hummingbird sightings, Chapada Diamantina National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Main Ridge Forest Reserve (Trinidad and Tobago, about 40%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird that you can see in Chapada Diamantina National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Glittering-bellied Emerald (about 50%), Hooded Visorbearer (about 40%) and White-vented Violetear (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Chapada Diamantina National Park (78 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.
