Phaethornis longirostris
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The long-billed hermit (Phaethornis longirostris) is a bird in the family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. It is found from central Mexico south through Central America, Colombia and Ecuador into Peru. It has often been considered conspecific with what is now the long-tailed hermit, P. superciliosus, which is found east of the Andes. The two populations were called the western and eastern long-tailed hermits; the "eastern" was dropped after the split into two species and the renaming of the western population.
The South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy assign these four subspecies to the long-billed hermit:
Other subspecies within longirostrus and cephalus have been proposed but have not been accepted. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Hermit sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 967 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 172nd most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–May and July–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Hermit in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March and June, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-billed Hermit sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
25th of 34
Of the 34 parks where we can rate Long-billed Hermit sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 25th at about 10%. The best odds are in Pico Bonito National Park (Honduras, about 60%), Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (Costa Rica, about 40%) and Soberanía National Park (Panama, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Phaethornis
The closest relatives of the Long-billed Hermit that you can see in Arenal Volcano National Park (genus Phaethornis, Typical Hermits) are Green Hermit (about 30%) and Stripe-throated Hermit (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-billed Hermit is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (967 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
