Collared Inca

Collared Inca

Coeligena torquata

Silhouette: PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Quito

In 3 days <5%

8 Verified sightings at Quito
2,202 In all 4 parks From 2019 to 2026
June Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Collared Inca

The collared inca (Coeligena torquata) is a species of hummingbird found in humid Andean forests from western Venezuela through Colombia and Ecuador to Peru. It is very distinctive in having a white chest-patch and white on the tail. Like other hummingbirds it takes energy from flower nectar (especially from bromeliads), while the plant benefits from the symbiotic relationship by being pollinated. Its protein source is small arthropods such as insects. It is normally solitary and can be found at varying heights above the ground, often in the open.

The collared inca is a member of subfamily Lesbiinae, the so-called "typical hummingbirds", of family Trochilidae. The family is placed by some taxonomic systems in the order Apodiformes, which contains swifts as well as hummingbirds. Others assign hummingbirds and swifts to order Caprimulgiformes.

Collared incas found in different parts of their range tend to have certain morphological features characteristic of that region, and are considered separate subspecies. The species' taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy recognize these five subspecies:... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Alarm call0:17

Ecuador · 2024

© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1143401 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:19

Ecuador · 1998

© Mitch Lysinger · XC260506 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:07

Ecuador · 2007

© Andrew Spencer · XC17273 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Podocarpus National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~40%
2 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~20%
3 Farallones de Cali National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
4 Chingaza National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Quito 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Collared Inca in Quito?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Collared Inca sighting in Quito on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 144th most-seen of the 167 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Collared Inca in Quito?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Collared Inca in Quito on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Collared Inca?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Collared Inca sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Collared Inca?

Only Quito, in our data

Quito is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Collared Inca sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Collared Inca sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Collared Inca is recorded against all the birds logged in Quito (8 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.

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