Klais guimeti
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The violet-headed hummingbird (Klais guimeti) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is the only species in the genus Klais. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest.
The violet-headed hummingbird was formally described in 1843 by the French ornithologist Jules Bourcier from specimens collected near Caracas in Venezuela. Bourcier coined the binomial name Trochilus guimeti. The violet-headed hummingbird is now the only species placed in the genus Klais that was introduced in 1854 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. The genus is named after Kleis (or Cleis), the daughter of the Lesbian poet Sappho. The specific name was chosen to honour the French chemist Jean-Baptiste Guimet.
Three subspecies are recognised: Violet-headed hummingbirds are on average 8.1 cm (3.2 in) in length with a... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 6 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 9 | Pico Bonito National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 10 | Henri Pittier National Park | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 11 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 13 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 18 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 19 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 21 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 2 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Violet-headed Hummingbird sighting in Rincón de la Vieja National Park on a given day, based on 39 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 190th most-seen of the 341 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September to November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Violet-headed Hummingbird in Rincón de la Vieja National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to August, the lowest months. Those are among Rincón de la Vieja National Park's wettest months, with about 320 mm of rain a month against 45 mm in February.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Violet-headed Hummingbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
13th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Violet-headed Hummingbird sightings, Rincón de la Vieja National Park ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%), Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%) and Chagres National Park (Panama, about 30%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Violet-headed Hummingbird that you can see in Rincón de la Vieja National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Cinnamon Hummingbird (about 20%), Canivet's Emerald (about 20%) and Blue-vented Hummingbird (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Violet-headed Hummingbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Rincón de la Vieja National Park (39 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.
