Ochthoeca fumicolor
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The brown-backed chat-tyrant (Ochthoeca fumicolor) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The brown-backed chat-tyrant's taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, the Clements taxonomy, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) assign it these four subspecies:
However, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC) includes a fifth subspecies, O. f. superciliosa, that the other systems had also long included. It had been originally described in 1870 as a species and the SACC notes that at least one author early in the twentieth century continued to recognize it as one. HBW recognized that taxon as the rufous-browed chat-tyrant in 2016, Clements in 2022, and the IOC in 2023.
This article follows the four-subspecies model. The brown-backed chat-tyrant is 14.5 to 16 cm (5.7 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 16 to 19 g (0.56 to 0.67 oz). The sexes... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant sighting in Chingaza National Natural Park on a given day, based on 474 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 18th most-seen of the 258 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant in Chingaza National Natural Park on a given day, against about 20% in October, the lowest month.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant 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 4 parks where we can rate Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant sightings, Chingaza National Natural Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Los Nevados National Natural Park (Colombia, about 30%) and Podocarpus National Park (Ecuador, under 5%).
Same genus: Ochthoeca
The closest relatives of the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant that you can see in Chingaza National Natural Park (genus Ochthoeca, Typical Chat-Tyrants) are Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant (about 10%), Crowned Chat Tyrant (about 10%) and Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant is recorded against all the birds logged in Chingaza National Natural Park (474 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.
