Tangara lavinia
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The rufous-winged tanager (Tangara lavinia) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.
The rufous-winged tanager was first described as Castille lavinia by John Cassin in 1858, on the basis of a specimen collected by W.S. Wood, Jr. at the Isthmus of Panama. The generic name Tangara is from the Tupí word tangara, meaning dancer. The specific name lavinia is after the artist Lavinia Bowen. Rufous-winged tanager is the official common name designated by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). Other names for the species include rufous winged tanager and Lavinia's tanager.
It is one of 27 species in the genus Tangara. Within the genus, it was placed in a species group with the bay-headed tanager and rufous-cheeked tanager by Isler and Isler in 1987. This placement is supported by mitochondrial DNA evidence. Within the species group, the rufous-winged tanager is sister to the bay-headed tanager.
There are three recognized subspecies of the saffron... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Pico Bonito National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 8 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas World Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-winged Tanager sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 1,183 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 155th 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.
August and October–March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-winged Tanager in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–July and September, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-winged Tanager sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Rufous-winged Tanager sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Chagres National Park (Panama, about 30%) and Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
Same genus: Tangara
The closest relatives of the Rufous-winged Tanager that you can see in Arenal Volcano National Park (genus Tangara, Tangara Tanagers) are Emerald Tanager (about 30%), Bay-headed Tanager (about 30%) and Silver-throated Tanager (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-winged Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (1,183 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.
