Ramphocaenus melanurus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The trilling gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus), formerly long-billed gnatwren, is a very small bird in the gnatcatcher family. It found from southeast Mexico south to Ecuador and Amazonia. The trilling gnatwren was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819 from a specimen collected in Brazil. He coined the binomial name Ramphocaenus melanurus. The genus name Ramphocaenus means "unusual beak", from the Ancient Greek rhamphos (ῥάµϕος, "beak") and cænos (καινός, "strange"). The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek melas "black" and oura "tail". A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that two subspecies of Ramphocaenus melanurus formed a separate clade. The subspecies were split off to become the chattering gnatwren and the English name of this species was changed from "long-billed gnatwren" to "trilling gnatwren".
Thirteen subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 3 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 6 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Gnatwren sighting in Cañón del Sumidero National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 223rd most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Gnatwren in Cañón del Sumidero National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to August, the lowest months. That is one of Cañón del Sumidero National Park's wettest months, with about 250 mm of rain against 5 mm in February.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-billed Gnatwren sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
44th of 54
Of the 54 parks where we can rate Long-billed Gnatwren sightings, Cañón del Sumidero National Park ranks 44th at under 5%. The best odds are in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 40%), Pico Bonito National Park (Honduras, about 30%) and Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Polioptilidae
The closest relatives of the Long-billed Gnatwren that you can see in Cañón del Sumidero National Park (family Polioptilidae, Gnatcatchers and Gnatwrens) are Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (about 50%) and White-lored Gnatcatcher (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-billed Gnatwren is recorded against all the birds logged in Cañón del Sumidero National Park (9 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.
