Galbula ruficauda
Silhouette: FJDegrange · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The rufous-tailed jacamar (Galbula ruficauda) is a near passerine bird which breeds in the tropical New World in southern Mexico, Central America and South America as far south as southern Brazil and Ecuador. Like other jacamars they are elegant, brightly coloured birds with long bills and tails. The rufous-tailed jacamar is typically 25 cm (10 in) long with a 5 cm (2 in) long black bill. The subspecies G. r. brevirostris has, as its name implies, a shorter bill. This bird is metallic green above, and the underparts are mainly orange, including the undertail, but there is a green breast band. Sexes differ in that the male has a white throat, and the female a buff throat; she also tends to have paler underparts. The race G. r. pallens has a copper-coloured back in both sexes.
This insectivore hunts from a perch, sitting with its bill tilted up, then flying out to catch flying insects. One commonly preyed upon insect is the social wasp Agelaia vicina. Other insect prey include flies, beetles, bees, dragonflies, and butterflies. Further, the bird distinguishes between edible and unpalatable butterflies mainly according to body shape. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 6 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Jacamar sighting in Brasilia on a given day, based on 45 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 65th most-seen of the 141 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–March, June and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Jacamar in Brasilia on a given day, against under 5% in April–May, July–October and December, the lowest months. Those are among Brasilia's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-tailed Jacamar sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 14
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Rufous-tailed Jacamar sightings, Brasilia ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in João Pessoa (Brazil, about 20%), Goiânia (Brazil, about 20%) and Valencia (Venezuela, about 20%).
Same order: Piciformes
The closest relatives of the Rufous-tailed Jacamar that you can see in Brasilia (order Piciformes, Woodpeckers and Allies) are Green-barred Woodpecker (about 20%) and Campo Flicker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-tailed Jacamar is recorded against all the birds logged in Brasilia (45 verified sightings), 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.
