Rufous-gaped Hillstar

Rufous-gaped Hillstar

Urochroa bougueri

Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~50% · Likely
at Farallones de Cali National Natural Park

In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%

1,837 Verified sightings at Farallones de Cali National Natural Park From 2019 to 2026
1,837 In 1 park
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Rufous-gaped Hillstar

The rufous-gaped hillstar (Urochroa bougueri), formerly included in the white-tailed hillstar, is a species of hummingbird in the "brilliants", tribe Heliantheini in subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.

The rufous-gaped hillstar was formally described in 1851 by the French ornithologist Jules Bourcier based on a specimen that he had collected in Ecuador. He placed it in the genus Trochilus and coined the binomial name Trochilus bougueri. The species is now placed in the genus Urochroa that was introduced in 1856 by the English ornithologist John Gould. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek oura meaning "tail" with khroa meaning "colour" or "complexion". The specific epithet bougueri was chosen to honour the French mathematician Pierre Bouguer who had visited Peru in 1736–1742.

The rufous-gaped hillstar and what is now the green-backed hillstar (Urochroa leucura) were once treated as a single species, the "white-tailed hillstar". They are the only two members of their genus. Although they share the name "hillstar" with the members of genus Oreotrochilus, they are quite different and not closely related. The rufous-gaped hillstar is monotypic.... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:49

Colombia · 2017

© Ross Gallardy · XC354291 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:17

Ecuador · 1998

© John V. Moore · XC257832 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:46

Colombia · 2008

© Andrew Spencer · XC22177 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Farallones de Cali National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~50%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Rufous-gaped Hillstar in Farallones de Cali National Natural Park?

Likely

About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-gaped Hillstar sighting in Farallones de Cali National Natural Park on a given day, based on 1,837 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 25th most-seen of the 542 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Rufous-gaped Hillstar in Farallones de Cali National Natural Park?

January and February

In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-gaped Hillstar in Farallones de Cali National Natural Park on a given day, against about 40% in May to October, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Rufous-gaped Hillstar?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-gaped Hillstar sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Rufous-gaped Hillstar?

Only Farallones de Cali National Natural Park, in our data

Farallones de Cali National Natural Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Rufous-gaped Hillstar sightings: about 50% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Which relatives of the Rufous-gaped Hillstar live in Farallones de Cali National Natural Park?

Same family: Trochilidae

The closest relatives of the Rufous-gaped Hillstar that you can see in Farallones de Cali National Natural Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Violet-crowned Woodnymph (about 70%), White-necked Jacobin (about 60%) and Brown Violetear (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Rufous-gaped Hillstar sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Rufous-gaped Hillstar is recorded against all the birds logged in Farallones de Cali National Natural Park (1,837 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.

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