Yellow-eared Toucanet

Yellow-eared Toucanet

Selenidera spectabilis

Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Chagres National Park

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%

126 Verified sightings at Chagres National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,650 In all 11 parks
December Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Yellow-eared Toucanet

The yellow-eared toucanet (Selenidera spectabilis) is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found from Honduras to Ecuador. Despite its placement in genus Selenidera, the yellow-eared toucanet might be more closely related to the mountain toucans of genus Andigena. It is monotypic.

The yellow-eared toucanet is 36 to 38 cm (14 to 15 in) long and weighs 175 to 245 g (6.2 to 8.6 oz). It is the largest and most distinctively plumaged member of its genus. Males and females have the same bill pattern but the female's bill is shorter. The bill has a vertical black line at its base. The maxilla is yellow with a triangle of olive brown below it narrowing from the base and horn-colored tips on the tomium. The mandible is dark olive to brownish black. Adult males have a black cap that extends down the hindneck, blue to green bare skin around the eye, and a large yellow tuft that extends back behind the eye. Their back and uppertail coverts are green and their tail blackish. They are black from their chin to their belly with a yellow patch on the flank, chestnut thighs, and red undertail coverts. Adult females have a chestnut... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song1:29

Colombia · 2020

© Iván Lau · XC588709 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:07

Costa Rica · 2017

© Jorge Gabriel Campos · XC386931 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:38

Costa Rica · 2010

© Peter Boesman · XC274644 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~20%
2 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
3 Tenorio Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
4 Utría National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
5 Rincón de la Vieja National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
6 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
7 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
8 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
9 Pico Bonito National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
10 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
11 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-eared Toucanet in Chagres National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-eared Toucanet sighting in Chagres National Park on a given day, based on 126 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 130th most-seen of the 372 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.

When is the best time to see a Yellow-eared Toucanet in Chagres National Park?

December and January

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-eared Toucanet in Chagres National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, June and October, the lowest months. Those are among Chagres National Park's driest months, with about 75 mm of rain a month against 300 mm in July.

What time of day is best to see a Yellow-eared Toucanet?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-eared Toucanet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Chagres National Park the best place to see a Yellow-eared Toucanet?

2nd of 11

Of the 11 parks where we can rate Yellow-eared Toucanet sightings, Chagres National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Darién National Park (Panama, about 20%).

Which relatives of the Yellow-eared Toucanet live in Chagres National Park?

Same family: Ramphastidae

The closest relatives of the Yellow-eared Toucanet that you can see in Chagres National Park (family Ramphastidae, Toucans) are Keel-billed Toucan (about 50%) and Black-mandibled Toucan (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Yellow-eared Toucanet sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Yellow-eared Toucanet is recorded against all the birds logged in Chagres National Park (126 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.

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