Paradise jacamar

Galbula dea

TAXONOMY

Galbula dea Linnaeus, 1758.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Jacamar à longue queue; German: Paradeisglanzvogel; Spanish: Jacamar de Cola Larga.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

12 in (30 cm) long; 2 in (51 cm) slender bill. Metallic bluish black color on upper and lower body, contrasting white patch on throat, long elegant tail.

DISTRIBUTION

Amazonian Brazil, the Guianas, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

HABITAT

Forest and forest edge or upland woodland.

BEHAVIOR

Hunts alone, in pairs, or in groups of three, may join canopy flocks.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Prefers butterflies and dragonflies. Perches on a branch, then darts out to capture prey in mid-air.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Lays one to four white eggs in ground-hole nest cavity. Incubation is 20–23 days. Chicks emerge from nest after 21–26 days, covered in white down. Both sexes incubate, and care for chicks.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.