Glaucis hirsutus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The rufous-breasted hermit or hairy hermit (Glaucis hirsutus) is a hummingbird that breeds from Panama south to Bolivia, and on Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada. It is a widespread and generally common species, though local populations may change in numbers and disappear altogether in marginal habitat.
The rufous-breasted hermit was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other hummingbirds in the genus Trochilus and coined the binomial name Trochilus hirsutus. Gmelin's description was based on that of the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae that had been published 140 years earlier in 1648. The rufous-breasted hermit is now placed with two other species in the genus Glaucis that was introduced in 1831 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek glaukos meaning "blue-grey", "glaucous" or "pale green". The specific epithet hirsutus is Latin meaning "hairy" or "bristled". The type locality is northeast Brazil.
Two subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main Ridge Forest Reserve | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 2 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Henri Pittier National Park | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 6 | San Lorenzo Protected Forest | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 8 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 9 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 11 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 14 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 15 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 16 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 17 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 18 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Salvador | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-breasted Hermit sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 241 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 196th most-seen of the 550 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-breasted Hermit in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in March–April, June and September, the lowest months. That is one of Tambopata National Reserve's wettest months, with about 420 mm of rain against 45 mm in July.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-breasted Hermit sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 18
Of the 18 parks where we can rate Rufous-breasted Hermit sightings, Tambopata National Reserve ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Main Ridge Forest Reserve (Trinidad and Tobago, about 70%), Serra dos Órgãos National Park (Brazil, about 40%) and Henri Pittier National Park (Venezuela, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Rufous-breasted Hermit that you can see in Tambopata National Reserve (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Reddish Hermit (about 20%), Fork-tailed Woodnymph (about 20%) and White-bearded Hermit (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-breasted Hermit is recorded against all the birds logged in Tambopata National Reserve (241 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.
