Galbula ruficauda
Silhouette: FJDegrange · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Jacamar sighting in Niterói on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 105th most-seen of the 116 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Jacamar in Niterói on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
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.
13th of 14
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Rufous-tailed Jacamar sightings, Niterói ranks 13th at under 5%. 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 Niterói (order Piciformes, Woodpeckers and Allies) are Blond-crested Woodpecker (about 20%) and White-barred Piculet (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 Niterói (6 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.
