Jacamars: Galbulidae
Coppery-chested Jacamar (galbula Pastazae): Species Accounts
Physical characteristics: Coppery-chested jacamars have metallic green upperparts, a dark rufous colored-throat, dark brown eyes, a distinctive yellowish orange eye ring, a copper-colored tail, and grayish feet. Males and females look alike except that females have a dark rufous-colored throat, and less visible coloring around the eyes. Their
Male and female coppery-chested jacamars sit on their eggs and care for the chicks when they hatch.
Geographic range: Coppery-chested jacamars are not seen very often because there are not very many of them. They have been seen at a few sites in Ecuador, southern Colombia, Amazonian Brazil, and along the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes at altitudes of up to 5,100 feet (1,550 meters), the highest elevations of all jacamars.
Habitat: They are found in montane (mountain) tropical rainforests.
Diet: Their diet consists of a wide variety of flying insects. They prefer to hunt from one favorite perch, watching carefully for possible prey. When seeing a possible target, they capture the flying insect as it flies through the air.
Behavior and reproduction: Coppery-chested jacamars are very alert hunters, as are all jacamars. They give a series of three to five loud calls such as "pee pee-pee-pe-pe-pee-pee-pee." Females lay one to four white eggs in curved ground-hole nests that are carefully hidden. When born, young are covered with white down. The incubation period is twenty to twenty-three days. Males and females share in incubation activities, along with taking care of the chicks as they grow.
Coppery-chested jacamars and people: There is no known significance between people and coppery-chested jacamars.
Conservation status: Coppery-chested jacamars are listed as Vulnerable. There are few areas where coppery-chested jacamars are found and their populations are low. They are found mostly in Colombia and the eastern slope of the Andes. Their populations are being reduced due to habitat loss, mainly from the loss of forested areas. ∎
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Books:
del Hoyo, Josep, et al., eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, 1992.
Dickinson, Edward C., ed. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, 3rd ed. Princeton, NJ and Oxford, U.K.: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Forshaw, Joseph, ed. Encyclopedia of Birds, 2nd ed. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1998.
Harrison, Colin James Oliver. Birds of the World. London and New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1993.
Perrins, Christopher M., and Alex L. A. Middleton, eds. The Encyclopedia of Birds. New York: Facts on File, 1985.
Web sites:
Steve Metz Photography. "Rufous-tailed Jacamar." http://www.stevemetzphotography.com/photo%20pages/Trinidad&Tobago/Rufoustailed%20Jacamar.htm (accessed on July 19, 2004).
Additional topics
- Jacamars: Galbulidae - Rufous-tailed Jacamar (galbula Ruficauda): Species Accounts
- Other Free Encyclopedias
Animal Life ResourceBirdsJacamars: Galbulidae - Physical Characteristics, Habitat, Behavior And Reproduction, Jacamars And People, Rufous-tailed Jacamar (galbula Ruficauda): Species Accounts - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, DIET, CONSERVATION STATUS