Rufous-tailed Jacamar

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iRufous-tailed Jacamar
Conservation status
Least Concern (LC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Piciformes Family: Galbulidae Genus: Galbula Species: G. ruficauda
Binomial name
Galbula ruficauda Cuvier, 1816

The Rufous-tailed Jacamar (Galbula ruficauda) is a near-passerine bird which breeds in the tropical New World in southern Mexico, Central America and South America as far as southern Brazil and Ecuador.

The jacamars are elegant brightly coloured birds with long bills and tails, which feed on insects caught in the air, like bee-eaters. This species is a resident breeder in a range of dry or moist woodlands and scrub. The two to four rufous-spotted white eggs are laid in a burrow in a bank or termite mound.

The Rufous-tailed Jacamar is typically 25 cm long with a 5 cm 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 be have paler underparts. The race G. r. pallens has a copper-coloured back in both sexes.

This insectivore hunts from a perch, sitting with its bill tilted up, then flying out to catch flying insects.

The Rufous-tailed Jacamar's call is a sharp pee-op, and the song a high thin peeo-pee-peeo-pee-pe-pe, ending in a trill.

[edit] References

• BirdLife International (2004). Galbula ruficauda. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
• Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1

[edit] External links

• Rufous-tailed Jacamar videos on the Internet Bird Collection