Oncostoma cinereigulare
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The northern bentbill (Oncostoma cinereigulare) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The northern bentbill was originally described in 1857 by Philip Sclater as Todirostrum cinereigulare. Sclater created its current genus Oncostoma in 1862. The northern bentbill is monotypic. It shares genus Oncostoma with the southern bentbill (O. olivaceum); in the early twentieth century at least one author considered them to be conspecific. The two form a superspecies.
The northern bentbill is 9.5 to 10.5 cm (3.7 to 4.1 in) long and weighs about 4.5 to 7 g (0.16 to 0.25 oz). It has a distinctive fairly thick downcurved bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly pale gray head whose crown is slightly darker. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are olive. Their wings are dusky with lemon yellow edges on the flight feathers and tips on the coverts; the latter show as two wing bars. Their tail is dusky. Their throat and breast are pale gray with olive streaks and their belly pale lemon-yellow... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Bentbill sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 259 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 312th most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Bentbill in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Bentbill sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
21st of 29
Of the 29 parks where we can rate Northern Bentbill sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 21st at under 5%. The best odds are in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 40%), Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 30%) and Tikal National Park (Guatemala, about 30%).
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Northern Bentbill that you can see in Arenal Volcano National Park (family Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers) are Great Kiskadee (about 70%), Social Flycatcher (about 50%) and Tropical Kingbird (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Bentbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (259 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.
