Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Galbula ruficauda
Handsome, slender, green-and-rusty bird of humid tropical lowlands. Lives in evergreen forest, often at edges and around adjacent clearings. Perches upright at mid-heights on vines or other exposed perches and sallies out for flying insects, especially butterflies, dragonflies, and wasps. Note the very long, slender black bill (like a giant hummingbird). Throat is white on male and buffy on female. Loud shrieking calls may draw attention.
Identification
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.
Taxonomy
Genus: Galbula; Family: Galbulidae; Order: Piciformes.
- Scientific name
- Galbula ruficauda
- Authority
- Cuvier, 1816
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Galbulidae
- Genus
- Galbula
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Tepui Tinamou
Crypturellus ptaritepui
Unbarred, dark rufous tinamou with a gray face, throat, and belly. With a good view note the pale eyes and orange base to the bill. Found at medium to high elevations in humid forest on the slopes of a few tepuis in southeastern Venezuela, northern Brazil, and southwestern Guyana. Rarely encountered unless voice is known; song is a long and high-pitched whistle, fading at end. Similar to Little Tinamou (which has a very different voice), but Tepui Tinamou is darker and has pale eyes.
Rufous Whistler
Pachycephala rufiventris
Robust songbird with short, fairly stout bill. Male pale gray above, pale orange below, with a bold white throat bordered in back. Female and immature are grayish above, pale below with extensive streaking that fades at buffy lower belly. Inhabits drier woodland and shrubland. Loud whistling song, given by both sexes.
Tawny Grassbird
Cincloramphus timoriensis
Large songbird, tawny with streaking above, paler below, with rich brown crown and long, graduated tail. In similar grassland and reedbed habitats, smaller Golden-headed Cisticola has much shorter tail, Little Grassbird is duller in plumage, and Australian Reed-Warbler has plain, unstreaked plumage. Calls often, with loud, grumpy churring calls and a longer call that starts “tick-tick-tick-tick” and ends with an explosive descending trill.
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