Brown Jacamar Brachygalba lugubris Scientific name definitions

Brown Jacamar is a small dark jacamar in the genus Brachygalba widely distributed from the Orinoco River drainage in central Venezuela south through much of northern Amazonia from eastern Ecuador and southern Colombia south through central Brazil to northern Bolivia. The Brown Jacamar is very different from jacamars in the genus Galbula by being much smaller and mostly brown, with glossy purple wings, as opposed to bright iridescent green. It is often seen in pairs or small groups of up to 6-7 individuals, perhaps representing family groups. Most frequently seen perched on dead branches in the canopy or mid-story along the edge of rivers, or at the edge of clearings. It often favors Cecropia trees where they sit out in the open, and sally out for flying insects. Not known to overlap with any other Brachygalba jacamar. It is replaced by the Pale-headed Jacama (Brachygalba goeringi), in the Llanos of central Venezuela and by White-throated Jacamar (Brachygalba albogularis) in southeastern Peru.

14–18 cm; 16–23 g (1 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Upperparts, including crown, sooty-brown , lower back darker, glossed greenish black; diffuse pale supercilium; wings and tail blackish with slight blue sheen, absent on primaries; chin and throat whitish, breast and flanks rufescent-brown, lower breast and belly whitish or occasionally buffy, undertail-coverts rufescent-brown; bill 4–5 cm long (3·4–4·2 cm from nostril), slender, straight, generally black; iris dark brown or pale blue (1 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); bare eyering blackish brown; feet black, base of tarsi sometimes yellowish. Juvenile overall slightly paler, with vestigial pale eyebrows and throat (2 Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino (2006). Birds of Northern South America: An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), and always has dark iris (1 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Races differ from nominate in tone and intensity of colour on upperparts and breast, S races generally with yellowish bill base, paler eyes, yellow eyering: fulviventris has browner upperparts and breast, buffy belly; obscuriceps has blackish crown, dark brown upperparts and breast, rufescent-brownish or buffy rest of underparts; caquetae has crown tipped pale ochraceous-buff, nape, mantle and breast more rufescent, lower back to uppertail-coverts more blackish; phaeonota is more uniform, darker, less rufescent on upperparts, throat, breast, flanks and undertail-coverts, isolating dirty white belly, the feathers of chin and upper throat with whitish shaft streaks and rufescent tips; naumburgae  is dark brown above, black wings and tail glossed greenish, blackish below with white throat and belly  ; <em>melanosterna</em> similar to previous, but proximal half or whole of lower mandible pale yellow, eyes pale blue.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Canopy, edges and shrubby clearings of primary and secondary terra firme, várzea and gallery forest, rarely cloudforest, also open savanna woodland, most often on riverbanks with scattered trees and shrubs; frequently on white-sand soils in some parts of range (1 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), including campina in S Amazonas (Brazil) (5 Whittaker, A. (2009). Pousada Rio Roosevelt: a provisional avifaunal inventory in south-western Amazonian Brazil, with information on life history, new distributional data and comments on taxonomy. Cotinga 31:23–46. Close ); usually in lowlands to 900 m, but records extend to 1500 m in S Venezuela.

Sedentary.

Diet includes Hymenoptera (e.g. 12-mm Apidae, Vespidae, Chrysididae), Coleoptera (e.g. 7-mm Staphylinidae, Curculionidae), Homoptera (e.g. cicadas), Diptera (e.g. Tabanidae) and Lepidoptera . Perches in pairs  or small parties  (often of 6–7 birds, occasionally more) (1 Hilty, S. L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) on exposed branches in upper canopy, less commonly down almost to ground level; often beside or over water. Sallies from perch for flying insects .

High, insect-like descending “tick tick tick ti ti ti ti tit t t t” or “plee, plee, plee-plee-plee’ple’pe’pe’e’e’e” (2 Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino (2006). Birds of Northern South America: An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), terminating in stuttering trill; call a very high, sharp whistle, “hilew”, rather different from Galbula calls, or lower “chewee”. Vocalizations very similar to those of Brachygalba albogularis (6 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ).

Family with three juveniles in late Mar and birds in breeding condition in late May in Colombia. No further information available; presumably breeds in arboreal termitarium or in burrow dug into bank.

Not globally threatened. Fairly common locally throughout much of range, including Surinam, French Guiana, and W Brazil (Rondônia); was previously considered abundant, at least seasonally, in S Brazil. Generally uncommon in E Ecuador, but numerous at Limoncocha; uncommon in N Peru. Occurs in Imataca Forest Reserve and El Dorado, Venezuela, in Amacayacu National Park, Colombia, and in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park and the mosiac of protected areas in the Serra dos Carajás (7 Pacheco, J. F., G. M. Kirwan, A. Aleixo, B. M. Whitney, A. Whittaker, J. Minns, K. J. Zimmer, P. S. M. Fonseca, M. F. Lima, and D. C. Oren (2007). An avifaunal inventory of the CVRD Serra dos Carajás project, Pará, Brazil. Cotinga 27:15–30. Close ), Brazil. Although sensitive to wholesale deforestation, its habitat requirements suggest that selective logging would not be a threat. Race phaeonota, known only from type locality, requires further study to clarify its conservation status and range.