Microchera cupreiceps
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The coppery-headed emerald (Microchera cupreiceps) is a small hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Costa Rica. The coppery-headed emerald was formerly placed with the white-tailed emerald (M. chionura) in the genus Elvira. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that these two species were closely related to the snowcap in the then-monospecific genus Microchera. The International Ornithological Committee and the Clements taxonomy placed the three species together in Microchera which has priority. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retains them in Elvira.
The coppery-tailed emerald is monotypic. The coppery-headed emerald is about 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long and weighs about 3.0 to 3.3 g (0.11 to 0.12 oz). Both sexes have a moderately decurved bill whose mandible has a pinkish base. The adult male has a dull coppery bronze crown, a bronze green nape, back, and rump, and bright coppery bronze uppertail coverts. Its central pair of tail feathers are bronze, the next three pairs white with pale gray tips, and the outermost pair white with black... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Coppery-headed Emerald sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 6,047 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 412 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and November–March
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Coppery-headed Emerald in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against about 20% in May and June, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Coppery-headed Emerald sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Coppery-headed Emerald sightings, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Poás Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Coppery-headed Emerald that you can see in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Lesser Violetear (about 60%), Purple-throated Mountain-gem (about 50%) and Stripe-tailed Hummingbird (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Coppery-headed Emerald is recorded against all the birds logged in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (6,047 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.
