Rufous-tailed Jacamar - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by renato.santos.4b
Iraquara, Bahia, Brazil, 28 August 2021

Galbula ruficauda

Identification

Female of the southern group
Photo by oderson
Itumbiara, GO, Brazil, August 2008

19–25 cm (7½-9¾ in); Long slender bill
Long tail has rufous underside, green upperside.
Female has a rufous-buffy throat; males have a white throat (black chin in one subspecies). Metallic green above, in some subspecies with yellow-golden reflections, and the underparts vary from rufous to orange depending on subspecies; paler in female. Male has a green breast band in most subspecies.

Distribution

Mexico, throughout Central America and most of South America to Argentina, and including Trinidad and Tobago but excluding Chile.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Female (food received from male, perhaps as part of mating ritual)
Photo by arthurgrosset
Carajás, Pará, Brazil, October 2005

Six subspecies are recognized^[1]. These have been proposed for split into a northern and a southern species.

• Northern group:
  
• G. r. melanogenia: Black-chinned

Lowlands of south-eastern Mexico (Veracruz) to western Ecuador

• G. r. ruficauda: Rufous-tailed

• Central Colombia to the Guianas and northern Brazil; Trinidad and Tobago

• G. r. brevirostris:

• North East Colombia and north-western Venezuela (Lake Maracaibo region)

• G. r. pallens:

• Arid tropical northern Colombia

• Southern group:
• G. r. rufoviridis: Spot-tailed

• Brazil south of Amazon to northern Bolivia, Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina

• G. r. heterogyna:

• Bolivia east of the Andes and south-western Brazil (western Mato Grosso)

Habitat

Male of the northern group
Photo by Gallus
Island of Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago, March 2005

Forest borders and clearings, secondary growth thickets, alongside streams, and marshes.

Behaviour

Diet

They eat a wide variety of insects caught in flight.

Breeding

The nest is a burrow in a bank or termite mound. The clutch consists of 2-4 rufous-spotted white eggs.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Mar 2018)
3. Dissertation by Dr. Witt read August 2009
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Rufous-tailed Jacamar. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rufous-tailed_Jacamar

External Links

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