Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

How to find it

Start with garden flowers and hummingbird feeders. This hummingbird is typically the dominant species there and is often the first to visit a new feeder. Look for the highest exposed perch in the area, since it guards its flower patch from there. Scan perches near flowering heliconias and similar red tubular flowers. Listen for the rattling chirp, which it often gives while chasing an intruder. In humid zones it shares gardens with hermits and Crowned Woodnymph, with Blue-chested Hummingbird on the Caribbean slope and Charming Hummingbird on the Pacific slope.

How to recognise it

This is the only medium-sized hummingbird in Costa Rica with a green chest and a rufous tail. It is about 10 cm long and weighs about 5 g.

The adult male has:

- a bronzy green back

- a deep rufous tail

- a glittering green throat and chest

- a pale grayish belly

- a mostly red bill with a black tip, so it looks two-toned, dark above and red below

Females show less extensive glittering green below, and the bill tells them apart: red is limited to the lower mandible, mostly at the base. Young birds look almost the same as females, but they have rufous edges on the crown feathers and an all black upper bill. Adults lack that rufous crown edging.

What it sounds like

Recording: Dan MacNeal, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a very aggressive hummingbird, mostly territorial around big clusters of flowers, which it defends against other hummingbirds. It sits on the highest exposed branch of its territory and guards a nectar-rich patch.

It is said to chase more than other hummingbirds, with oropendolas, toucans and even hawks among its targets when they come near its flowers. One birder photographed one near Arenal Volcano driving a larger bird off its flower patch.

The female builds a tiny cup nest of plant down, covered in lichens and bound with spider web. The web lets the nest stretch as the chicks grow. It sits on a thin, exposed branch 1 to 6 m up.

Where it lives

It is found on both the Pacific and Caribbean slopes, from sea level up to about 1,850 m. It is also reported along big rivers and where forest has been cleared.

It lives at forest edges, in clearings, scrub, coffee plantations and pastures with scattered trees, and especially in town gardens, parks and plazas. It avoids dark, closed rainforest.

In the dry northwest it is less common and more local. Even so, it has been recorded in the grounds of the Museo Nacional in San José.

When to see it

It lives in Costa Rica all year, so it can be seen on any trip. Breeding peaks from January to May, though the timing shifts with the dry season, and breeding can run through most of the year.

Similar birds

The Steely-vented (now Blue-vented) Hummingbird looks like it head-on, but its bill is short, straight and black, and it has a bright blue tail. The White-tailed Emerald has a white outer tail, not a rufous one. The White-necked Jacobin is larger and has a white neck patch. In dry areas such as Guanacaste, the Cinnamon Hummingbird takes the Rufous-tailed's place. A simple rule: a hummingbird with a reddish tail, a greenish throat and a mostly red bill is a Rufous-tailed.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica people often call hummingbirds in general 'gorriones' or 'gurriones', which matches the '(Gurrión)' tag on the official name Colibrí Rabirrufo. Spanish names vary by country: Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica also use 'amazilia rabirrufa', Colombia and Panama say 'colirrufa', and Mexico says 'colibrí cola rojiza'.

Status and conservation

Listed as a resident (R) on the AOCR list, it is rated Least Concern by the IUCN and is widespread and well adapted to human-altered areas.

Photography tips

Early morning at heliconia patches gives the best behaviour shots, and early morning at feeders gives good light and busy activity. Activity drops in the midday heat. Overcast wet-season days give soft light that shows the iridescent colours more accurately. Focus on the eye, because at wide apertures the tail tip may come out slightly soft.