Chrysolampis mosquitus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The ruby-topaz hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus), commonly referred to simply as the ruby topaz, is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae, the mangoes. It is found in Aruba, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, Colombia, Curaçao, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
The ruby-topaz hummingbird was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Trochilus mosquitus. The type locality is Suriname. The ruby-topaz hummingbird is now the only species placed in the genus Chrysolampis, which was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1831. The name Chrysolampis is from the Ancient Greek khrusolampis meaning "glow-worm". The specific name mosquitus is a Spanish diminutive and means "little fly". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The ruby-topaz hummingbird is 8 to 9.5 cm (3.1 to 3.7 in) long and weighs 2.5 to 5 g (0.09 to 0.18 oz). Its almost straight, black bill is relatively short compared to those of most other hummingbirds. The male has dark brown upperparts with an olive gloss. Its crown... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main Ridge Forest Reserve | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 2 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 6 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Ruby-topaz Hummingbird sighting in Tayrona National Natural Park on a given day, based on 53 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 143rd most-seen of the 285 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Ruby-topaz Hummingbird in Tayrona National Natural Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–April and June–January, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ruby-topaz Hummingbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Ruby-topaz Hummingbird sightings, Tayrona National Natural Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Main Ridge Forest Reserve (Trinidad and Tobago, about 40%) and Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 10%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird that you can see in Tayrona National Natural Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (about 40%), Pale-bellied Hermit (about 30%) and White-chinned Sapphire (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Tayrona National Natural Park (53 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.
