Dusky-backed Jacamar
Brachygalba salmoni
Distinctive within limited range near the border of Panama and Colombia. Typical jacamar shape with extremely long, pointed bill and an upright stance. Plumage brown overall with darker blue-black gloss on back and breast, off-white throat, and cinnamon belly. Pairs or small family groups are found at forest edges or clearings, often perched conspicuously and sallying out frequently to catch insects.
Identification
The dusky-backed jacamar is 16.5 to 18 cm (6.5 to 7.1 in) long. Males weigh 18.5 g (0.65 oz) and females 16 g (0.56 oz). The male's upper parts, chest, and flanks are dark greenish black that appears bluish when worn. Its cheeks are sooty, the throat white or whitish, and the belly and breast cinnamon. The female is similar but its throat is buff.
Taxonomy
The dusky-backed jacamar is monotypic. It and the pale-headed (B. goeringi), brown (B. lugubris), and white-throated jacamars (B. albogularis) form a superspecies.
- Scientific name
- Brachygalba salmoni
- Authority
- Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1879
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Galbulidae
- Genus
- Brachygalba
Range and habitat
The dusky-backed jacamar is found in Panama's Darién Province and the adjoining and nearby northern Chocó, northern Antioquia, and southern Córdoba Departments of Colombia. There is also an isolated population in northern Bolívar Department, Colombia, that at one time was thought to be a subspecies. It inhabits humid primary and secondary forest. It is found in edges, such as by clearings and along streams, rather than the forest interior. In elevation it ranges up to 700 m (2,300 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The dusky-backed jacamar preys on a variety of flying insects that it catches by flying from a perch. It often perches and hunts in pairs or small family groups.<p>Though the dusky-backed jacamar is assumed to nest in burrows in earth banks, there is no documentation of its breeding phenology. Birds in breeding condition were noted during January and February in Colombia.<p>The dusky-backed jacamar has a complex song [1]. Its call is described as an "upwardly inflected 'sweet' or 'feet'...sometimes expanded to...a longer series" [2].
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Hispaniolan Spindalis
Spindalis dominicensis
A somewhat small woodland bird that moves rather deliberately as it feeds on fruits and flowers and the occasional insect. Occupies wide range of forests from pines to mangroves. Brilliant male looks like a sunrise with a black-and-white head; no truly similar species on Hispaniola. Females head pattern is a dull version of the males, but note streaking below. Calls are a high and thin single “tsee” or rapid “tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi.”
Red-backed Mousebird
Colius castanotus
A brownish-gray dumpy-bodied bird with a long scruffy tail, a reddish back, brown ears, a brown crest, and pale eyes. Occurs in small sociable groups in forest edge, woodland, thorn scrub, and cultivated areas along the Angolan escarpment, where it is endemic. One of the most familiar and beloved birds of Angola, where it is known as the “Rabo-de-junco”. Scrambles through bushes and tangles, creeping on short legs. In flight, it appears heavy, fluttering rapidly. Calls include a harsh “chee” and twittering notes like those of Speckled Mousebird, which differs from Red-backed by being lightly barred on the breast and mantle, having a brown back, and in the area of overlap in northern Angola, having dark eyes.
Copper-throated Sunbird
Leptocoma calcostetha
Large sunbird of mangroves. Male is completely covered with iridescence and can appear dark all over; look out for glistening wine-red throat and overall blue-green tones in good lighting. Female is far plainer, with a yellow belly, a pale throat, and a thin dark line through the eye. Nominate female Plain-throated Sunbird can be similar, but Plain-throated has a yellow throat, a faint eyering, a less curved bill, and more extensive yellow underparts. Gives a squeaky, ringing trill and a inflected “tslee.”
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