Elaenia cristata
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The plain-crested elaenia (Elaenia cristata) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The plain-crested elaenia and the rufous-crowned elaenia (E. ruficeps) are sister species. The plain-crested elaenia is 12.5 to 15 cm (4.9 to 5.9 in) long and weighs about 18 g (0.63 oz). It is a small elaenia with a conspicuous crest. The two subspecies and the sexes have essentially the same plumage. Adults have a dull olive-brown head with lighter brown cheeks and a thin whitish eyering. Their upperparts are dull olive-brown. Their wings are mostly dusky; the flight feathers have whitish edges and the tips of the coverts are whitish. The latter show as two bars on the closed wing. Their tail is dusky. Their throat is grayish white, their breast grayish olive, and their belly and undertail coverts pale yellow. Both sexes of both subspecies have a dark brown iris, a black... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Amboró National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Plain-crested Elaenia sighting in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park on a given day, based on 132 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 84th most-seen of the 273 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Plain-crested Elaenia in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park on a given day, against about 10% in July and September–November, the lowest months. That is one of Chapada dos Guimarães National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 240 mm in March. February to April have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Plain-crested Elaenia sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Plain-crested Elaenia sightings, Chapada dos Guimarães National Park ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 50%), Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 30%) and Emas National Park (Brazil, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Elaenia
The closest relatives of the Plain-crested Elaenia that you can see in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park (genus Elaenia, Typical Elaenias) are Yellow-bellied Elaenia (about 30%), Small-billed Elaenia (about 10%) and White-crested Elaenia (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Plain-crested Elaenia is recorded against all the birds logged in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park (132 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.
