Galbula ruficauda
Silhouette: FJDegrange · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
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 |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Jacamar sighting in Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 86 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 53rd most-seen of the 240 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Jacamar in Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in June, the lowest month. That is one of Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve's wettest months, with about 300 mm of rain against 55 mm in March.
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.
8th of 30
Of the 30 parks where we can rate Rufous-tailed Jacamar sightings, Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve ranks 8th at about 30%. The best odds are in Main Ridge Forest Reserve (Trinidad and Tobago, about 70%), Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 50%) and Tayrona National Natural Park (Colombia, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Piciformes
The closest relatives of the Rufous-tailed Jacamar that you can see in Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (order Piciformes, Woodpeckers and Allies) are Keel-billed Toucan (about 60%), Golden-fronted Woodpecker (about 50%) and Collared Aracari (about 40%), 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 Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (86 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.
