Phaethornis guy
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The green hermit (Phaethornis guy) is a large hummingbird that is a resident breeder from southern Central America (Costa Rica and Panama) south to northern South America (north-eastern Venezuela and Trinidad, and the northern Andes of eastern Peru)
It is 13.5 cm (5.3 in) long and weighs 6.3 g (0.22 oz). The male is mainly dark green with a blue-green rump. It has a dark mask through the eye, with buff stripes above and below this, and down the centre of the throat. The central feathers of the tapered tail are—for large hermit—relatively short and white-tipped, and are wiggled in display at the communal leks. The reddish bill is long and decurved. The female is sooty gray (rather than green) below, with an even longer bill and a much longer tail. The call of this species is a loud zurk, and the males' lekking "song" is a repeated swark.
The nominate subspecies Phaethornis guy guy is found in Venezuela and Trinidad. The western P. g. apicalis of the American Cordillera is slightly smaller and the sexes more similar. This hermit inhabits forest undergrowth, usually near water, and prefers hilly areas. It seems to favor primary rainforest... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 8 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 11 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 14 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 16 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 18 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 19 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 21 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Green Hermit sighting in Darién National Park on a given day, based on 81 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 98th most-seen of the 397 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.
February
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Green Hermit in Darién National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October and November, the lowest months. That is one of Darién National Park's driest months, with about 100 mm of rain against 450 mm in November.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green Hermit sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Green Hermit sightings, Darién National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Poás Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 60%), Chagres National Park (Panama, about 30%) and Braulio Carrillo National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Phaethornis
The closest relatives of the Green Hermit that you can see in Darién National Park (genus Phaethornis, Typical Hermits) are Long-billed Hermit (about 20%), Stripe-throated Hermit (about 10%) and Pale-bellied Hermit (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green Hermit is recorded against all the birds logged in Darién National Park (81 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.
