Cyanocompsa cyanoides
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The blue-black grosbeak (Cyanoloxia cyanoides) is a species of songbird in the family Cardinalidae. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society places this species in genus Cyanoloxia. In addition, in 2018 the committee split the eastern lowland population into a new species, the Amazonian grosbeak (Cyanoloxia rothschildii).
The blue-black grosbeak is found in the family Cardinalidae, within the order Passeriformes. Although it is still sometimes placed in the genus Cyanocompsa, it was found that this genus is paraphyletic and contains members of the genus Amaurospiza and Cyanoloxia.
There are three subspecies in this taxa: Cyanoloxia cyanoides cyanoides, Cyanoloxia cyanoides caerulescens, and Cyanoloxia cyanoides concreta. Although these three subspecies are very similar, there are slight differences between them. Males all have dark blue plumage, however, C.c. concreta has the darkest of the three and is also the largest. Next, in terms of size and coloration, is C.c. caerulescens, followed by C.c. cyanoides, which has the smallest size and brightest plumage.
Originally there was a fourth subspecies, C.c. rothschildii... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-black Grosbeak sighting in Chirripó National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 304th most-seen of the 332 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-black Grosbeak in Chirripó National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-black Grosbeak sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
36th of 39
Of the 39 parks where we can rate Blue-black Grosbeak sightings, Chirripó National Park ranks 36th at under 5%. The best odds are in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 30%), Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, about 20%) and Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
Same family: Cardinalidae
The closest relatives of the Blue-black Grosbeak that you can see in Chirripó National Park (family Cardinalidae, Cardinals and Allies) are Summer Tanager (about 30%), Flame-colored Tanager (about 10%) and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-black Grosbeak is recorded against all the birds logged in Chirripó 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.
