Coppery-chested Jacamar
Galbula pastazae
Sparkling green and rusty bird found in cloud forest along the east slope of the Andes, at higher elevations than other jacamars. Mostly restricted to Ecuador, but it also reaches southern Colombia and extreme northern Peru. Green with reddish belly and undertail, blue crown and throat, and buffy eyering. Female has reddish throat. Long, thin bill may give the impression of an enormous hummingbird. Perches at low to mid levels, looking around frantically before sallying out to snatch an insect.
Identification
The coppery-chested jacamar is 23 to 24 cm (9.1 to 9.4 in) long and weighs approximately 31 to 32 g (1.1 to 1.1 oz). The male's crown is metallic green with a blue gloss. The rest of the upper parts are metallic bronzy green. The throat and breast are shiny green and the belly and vent area are dark rufous. The female is similar except that the chin and throat are dark rufous.
Taxonomy
The coppery-chested jacamar is monotypic. It and the rufous-tailed (Galbula ruficauda), white-chinned (G. tombacea), bluish-fronted (G. cyanescens), and green-tailed jacamars (G. glabula) are considered to form a superspecies.
- Scientific name
- Galbula pastazae
- Authority
- Taczanowski & Berlepsch, 1885
- Order
- Galbuliformes
- Family
- Galbulidae
- Genus
- Galbula
Range and habitat
The coppery-chested jacamar is effectively endemic to Ecuador, though there are records from a single site in each of far southern Colombia and far northern Peru. It is found on the east slope of the Andes between approximately 750 to 1,500 m (2,460 to 4,920 ft) in Ecuador. The Colombia record, at El Carmen, Nariño Department, was at 1,600 m (5,200 ft) and the Peru record, on the upper Comaina River, Amazonas Department, was at 1,430 m (4,690 ft). The coppery-chested jacamar inhabits humid montane forest. It is a bird of the understory, being found along forest edges, along watercourses, and at tree falls and landslides that provide openings.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The coppery-chested jacamar is insectivorous but few details of its diet or feeding methods are known.<p>One known nest of the coppery-chested jacamar was a burrow in an earth bank. Little else has been documented about its breeding. <p>The coppery-chested jacamar's song is "a rising series of wee notes, sometimes ending in a descending rattle" [1]. Its call is "a weet note, singly or in a series" [2].
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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