Solar worship: the Rufous-tailed Jacamar sunbathes on the ground

Abstract

Sunbathing is a comfort behaviour widespread among birds, but remains inadequately documented for jacamars (Galbulidae). Herein I briefly describe and illustrate sunbathing by the Rufous-tailed Jacamar (Galbula ruficauda) on a dirt road in the Atlantic forest of Southeastern Brazil. A female with worn tail tip displayed sunning behaviour after 9 min of dustbathing. The bird crouched on the ground with its back oriented towards the sun, spread the wings and remained in this posture for about 3 min, raising its head from time to time to watch flying insects. The sunning session ended with the bird ejecting a chitinous pellet. Afterwards, it flew to a perch where it preened for about 5 min before starting to chase flying insects. Sunbathing by the Rufous- tailed Jacamar is similar to that displayed by puffbirds and some woodpeckers while on the ground. Because the jacamar preened its plumage after dustbathing and sunning, it is likely that the main functions for these behaviours on the sandy ground were feather maintenance and parasite removal.