Catharus fuscater
Silhouette: Sharon Wegner-Larsen · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The slaty-backed nightingale-thrush (Catharus fuscater) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae, the thrushes and allies. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. The slaty-backed nightingale-thrush was originally described in 1845 by as Myioturdus fuscater. It was later reassigned to its present genus Catharus that had been erected in 1850.
The slaty-backed nightingale's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, AviList, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign it these seven subspecies: The Clements taxonomy recognizes four more subspecies:
They treat... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 10 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 12 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 13 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 788 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 211th most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to March, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 7th at under 5%. The best odds are in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica, about 30%), Poás Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%) and Braulio Carrillo National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%).
Same genus: Catharus
The closest relatives of the Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush that you can see in Arenal Volcano National Park (genus Catharus, Brown Thrushes and Nightingale-Thrushes) are Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush (about 10%) and Swainson's Thrush (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (788 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.
