Mitrephanes phaeocercus
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The northern tufted flycatcher or simply tufted flycatcher (Mitrephanes phaeocercus) is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It is found from Mexico to Ecuador. The northern tufted flycatcher was originally described as Mitrephorus phaeocercus. It was later determined that genus Mitrephorus already "belonged" to other taxa so by the principle of priority genus Mitrephanes was erected for it.
The northern tufted flycatcher's further taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy recognize these four subspecies: Three other subspecies have been proposed but all three of those taxonomic systems include them within the IOC/Clements four subspecies.
What is now the olive tufted flycatcher (M. olivaceus) of Peru and Bolivia was previously treated as a subspecies of the northern tufted flycatcher. The... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | El Triunfo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Celaque National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 10 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Cusuco National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 12 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 13 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 4 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Tufted Flycatcher sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 759 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 206th 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.
May–July, September–October and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tufted Flycatcher in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–April, August and November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tufted Flycatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Tufted Flycatcher sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Volcán Barú National Park (Panama, about 40%), Los Quetzales National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%) and El Triunfo (Mexico, about 20%).
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Tufted Flycatcher 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 Tufted Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (759 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.
