Lophotriccus pileatus
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The scale-crested pygmy tyrant (Lophotriccus pileatus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, native to the American Cordillera. The scale-crested pygmy tyrant was originally described in 1844 as Euscarthmus pileatus. It was later moved into Lophotriccus. Several authors have suggested that genus Lophotriccus should be merged into genus Hemitriccus.
The scale-crested pygmy tyrant has these five subspecies: It has long crown feathers that form the eponymous crest and that it sometimes erects and fans. Females have a smaller crest than males but the sexes otherwise have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies L. p. pileatus have a black crest with rufous edges on the feathers. They have whitish lores on an otherwise brownish face. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are olive. Their wings are dusky with yellow edges on the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 7 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Henri Pittier National Park | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 16 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 18 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 3,465 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 68th most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–June and September
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against about 10% in August, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 18
Of the 18 parks where we can rate Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Chagres National Park (Panama, about 40%), Farallones de Cali National Natural Park (Colombia, about 30%) and Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant 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 Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (3,465 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.
