Coppery-chested jacamar

Galbula pastazae

Photo by Nick Athanas (Antpitta)

Common name:
coppery-chested jacamar (en); ariramba-acobreada (pt); jacamar des Andes (fr); jacamará cobrizo (es); kupferglanzvogel (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Galbuliformes
Family Galbulidae


Range:
This species is found along the eastern slopes of the Andes, in southern Colombia, Ecuador and across the border into northern Peru.


Size:
These birds are 23-24 cm long and weigh 30-35 g.


Habitat:
The coppery-chested jacamar is found in mountain rainforests, especially along forest edges and in nearby second growths, at altitudes of 600-1.700 m.


Diet:
They eat a wide variety of flying insects, including beetles, wasps and butterflies, which they catch by sallying out from a perch and catching them in the air.


Breeding:
Coppery-chested jacamars nest in holes well-hidden in the ground. The female lays 1-4 white eggs which are incubated by both parents for 20-23 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 21-26 days after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status - VU (Vulnerable)
This species has a small and fragmented breeding range, and the global population is estimated at 2.500-10.000 individuals. The population is suspected to be declining slowly as a result of habitat destruction and fragmentation. The lower slopes of the eastern Andes in Ecuador are seriously affected by clearance for small-scale agriculture, and for tea and coffee plantations, with forest disappearing at an alarming rate. In Colombia, the forest remains as the climate and terrain are unsuited to coffee or tea growing. Proposals to build a new road in the area may represent a further threat.