White-necked Jacobin

How to recognise it

11 to 12 cm, shorter than a new pencil.

The male is the easy one: the dark blue hood, the white belly, the white tail with black tips to the feathers, and that white band on the nape, the back of the neck. The band settles it.

The female is harder. Most are green above, with a blue-green throat and breast scaled in white and a white belly. But females vary a great deal, and some look like adult or young males. With a female, ask your guide.

The voice is slow and patient: single high notes, a little under one a second, tseee, tseee, tseee.

Where it lives

The canopy and edges of humid forest, and more open, semi-wooded country too. Usually from sea level to about 900 metres, with rare birds seen as high as 1,500.

When to see it

All year.