Xiphorhynchus erythropygius
Silhouette: Melo-Ortiz O.E.; Herrera-R, G.A. y Parada-Pedreros S · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The spotted woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus erythropygius) is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The spotted woodcreeper and the olive-backed woodcreeper (X. triangularis) were formerly considered conspecific but since the mid-20th century have been treated as separate species. The spotted woodcreeper's taxonomy is otherwise unsettled. The American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee, and the Clements taxonomy assign it these five subspecies that Clements puts into two groups:
"Spotted" group "Berlepsch's" group However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats the two groups as separate species, calling the "spotted" group the "northern spotted woodcreeper" (X. erythropygius) and "Berlepsch's" group the "southern spotted woodcreeper (X. aequatorialis... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | El Triunfo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Cusuco National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 5 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | La Tigra National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 11 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Pico Bonito National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 13 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 14 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 18 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 19 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Woodcreeper sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 1,924 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 116th most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Woodcreeper in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against about 10% in November to August, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted Woodcreeper 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 20
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Spotted Woodcreeper sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica, about 20%) and El Triunfo (Mexico, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spotted Woodcreeper is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (1,924 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.
