Plain-crested Elaenia

Plain-crested Elaenia

Elaenia cristata

Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Belo Horizonte

In 3 days <5%

6 Verified sightings at Belo Horizonte
783 In all 5 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Plain-crested Elaenia

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 →

Sounds

Alarm call0:25

Brazil · 2026

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC1083450 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:39

Bolivia · 2023

© Richard E. Webster · XC859172 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Subsong0:38

Bolivia · 2021

© Jacob Wijpkema · XC654536 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Chapada Diamantina National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~50%
2 Serra da Canastra National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
3 Emas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
4 Chapada dos Guimarães National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
5 Amboró National Park 🇧🇴 Bolivia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Belo Horizonte 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Plain-crested Elaenia in Belo Horizonte?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Plain-crested Elaenia sighting in Belo Horizonte on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 201st most-seen of the 220 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Plain-crested Elaenia in Belo Horizonte?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Plain-crested Elaenia in Belo Horizonte on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Plain-crested Elaenia?

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.

Where else can you see a Plain-crested Elaenia?

Only Belo Horizonte, in our data

Belo Horizonte is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Plain-crested Elaenia sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Plain-crested Elaenia sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Plain-crested Elaenia is recorded against all the birds logged in Belo Horizonte (6 verified sightings), 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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