Carpodectes nitidus
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The snowy cotinga (Carpodectes nitidus) is a medium-sized species of passerine bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The snowy cotinga shares genus Carpodectes with the yellow-billed cotinga (C. antoniae) and the black-tipped cotinga (C. hopkei). One early twentieth century author treated them as conspecific but they have been otherwise treated as separate species. The three form a superspecies. The snowy cotinga is monotypic.
The snowy cotinga is 19.5 to 21 cm (7.7 to 8.3 in) long and weighs an average of 105 g (3.7 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males are mostly white with a light bluish gray crown and a very light bluish gray wash on their upperparts and wings. Their flight feathers are wide and have rounded tips. Adult females have a brownish gray head and upperparts with a darker crown. Their tail is blackish. Their wings are mostly blackish with white to grayish white edges on the coverts and inner flight feathers. Their chin is a very light gray; the rest of their underparts are a paler gray than their upperparts that becomes white on the flanks, belly, and undertail... Wikipedia →
Call0:26
Costa Rica · 2018
© Brendan Sloan · XC405999 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Snowy Cotinga sighting in Bastimentos Island National Marine Park on a given day, based on 362 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 122nd most-seen of the 375 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September to May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Snowy Cotinga in Bastimentos Island National Marine Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to August, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Snowy Cotinga sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Snowy Cotinga sightings, Bastimentos Island National Marine Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come La Amistad International Park (Panama) (Panama, under 5%) and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (Costa Rica, under 5%).
Same family: Cotingidae
The closest relatives of the Snowy Cotinga that you can see in Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (family Cotingidae, Cotingas) are Masked Tityra (about 40%), Black-crowned Tityra (about 10%) and Three-wattled Bellbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Snowy Cotinga is recorded against all the birds logged in Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (362 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.
