Threnetes ruckeri
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The band-tailed barbthroat (Threnetes ruckeri) is a medium-sized hummingbird that is found from southeastern Guatemala and Belize to western Ecuador and western Venezuela. The band-tailed barbthroat has the three subspecies listed. A fourth proposed subspecies, T. r. darienensis of the Panama-Colombia border area, shares the characteristics of all three recognized subspecies. The band-tailed barbthroat and the other two members of its genus pale-tailed barbthroat (T. lecurus) and sooty barbthroat (T. niger) form a superspecies.
The band-tailed barbthroat is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long. Males weigh 5.5 to 7 g (0.19 to 0.25 oz) and females 5 to 7 g (0.18 to 0.25 oz).The adult male of the nominate subspecies has bronze-green upperparts, a dark ear patch and chin, and a dusky malar stripe. The tail is dark with white bases and tips to the feathers that create a black band near the end. The throat is ochraceous and the underparts are otherwise gray with some green feathers. It has a nearly straight bill. As with other hermit hummingbirds, the sexes are similar; the female's bill is somewhat more decurved than the male's and the plumage... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Cusuco National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 9 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | San Lorenzo Protected Forest | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 16 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇧🇿 Belize | |
| 18 | Pico Bonito National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 19 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 21 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Band-tailed Barbthroat sighting in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 92 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 155th most-seen of the 329 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Band-tailed Barbthroat in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in January–March, May, August and November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Band-tailed Barbthroat sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Band-tailed Barbthroat sightings, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%), Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%) and Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, about 10%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Band-tailed Barbthroat that you can see in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (about 50%), Long-billed Hermit (about 40%) and Stripe-throated Hermit (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Band-tailed Barbthroat is recorded against all the birds logged in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (92 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.
