Tangara icterocephala
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The silver-throated tanager (Tangara icterocephala) is a species of passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and northeastern Peru. It inhabits mossy forests, montane forests, tropical lowland evergreen forests and forest edges, along with tall secondary forests and disturbed habitat with remnant trees and forest. It is 13 centimetres (5.1 in) long and weighs 22 grams (0.78 oz) on average, and shows slight sexual dimorphism, with duller female plumage. Adult males are mainly bright yellow, with a silvery-white throat bordered above with a black stripe on the cheeks, black streaking on the back, and green edges to the wings and tail. Juveniles are duller and greener.
The silver-throated tanager is omnivorous, and mainly feeds on fruits, especially melastomes, supplemented with arthropods. Breeding occurs from April–September, and two broods are raised in a single breeding season. Cup nests are built by females out of moss, leaves, and spider webs in forests or isolated trees. Eggs are laid in clutches of two and incubated by females. Nestlings leave the nest at around 15 days old. The silver-throated tanager is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the IUCN Red List, but is threatened by habitat destruction. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 15 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Paz Waterfall Gardens | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Silver-throated Tanager sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 4,477 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 54th most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Silver-throated Tanager in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against about 10% 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 Silver-throated 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.
9th of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Silver-throated Tanager sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 9th at about 30%. The best odds are in Poás Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 80%), Chirripó National Park (Costa Rica, about 60%) and Farallones de Cali National Natural Park (Colombia, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Tangara
The closest relatives of the Silver-throated 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 Rufous-winged Tanager (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Silver-throated Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (4,477 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.
