- Brachygalba goeringi
Identification
16.5-18 cm.
- Ashy-brown crown and upper mantle
- Dark brown rest of upperparts, tail and wings with greenish sheen, becoming bluish-back in worn plumage
- Pale supercilium getting more rufescent-brown at rear
- Buffy-white throat
- Ash-brown breastband
- Dark brown flanks
- Chestnut band across upper belly
- White rest of underparts
- Slender, long, black bill
Females similar, probably with more extensive chestnut on belly.
Immatures with shorter bill, grey crown and with greyish-brown nape, whiter throat, head and supercilium.
Distribution
Found in northeast Colombia and northwest Venezuela.
Common in its range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Forms a superspecies with Brown Jacamar, White-throated Jacamar and Dusky-backed Jacamar.
Habitat
Found at edges of gallery, deciduous and secondary forest. Also in open woodland, clearings and drier savanna.
Occurs up to 1100 m.
Behaviour
Often seen perched in pairs or in small family groups on exposed branches emerging from the canopy or on overhanging branches along streambanks.
Diet
Feeds mainly on butterflies, moths and dragonflies. Takes also other insects.
Makes acrobatic darting and looping sallies from a perch to catch its prey. Forages higher than sympatric Rufous-tailed Jacamar in Venezuela.
Breeding
Breeding season from April to May in Venezuela. One recorded nest was dug into a clay bank and contained 4 nestlings.
Movements
This is a sedentary species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Pale-headed Jacamar. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Pale-headed_Jacamar
