Masked Flowerpiercer

Masked Flowerpiercer

Diglossa cyanea

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Bogota

In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%

264 Verified sightings at Bogota
3,339 In all 4 parks From 2019 to 2026
March Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Masked Flowerpiercer

The masked flowerpiercer (Diglossa cyanea) is a species of bird in the tanager family, Thraupidae. It is found in humid montane forest and scrub in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Flowerpiercers got their name from the fact that they have a sharp hook on the tip of their upper mandible which they use to slice open the base of flowers to get at the nectar.

The masked flowerpiercer was formally described in 1840 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye based on a specimen collected by Auguste Boissonneau near Santa Fe, Bogotá in Colombia. Lafresnaye coined the binomial name Uncirostrum cyaneum. The masked flowerpiercer is now one of 18 flowerpiercers placed in the genus Diglossa that was introduced in 1832 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler.

Five subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:10

Ecuador · 2025

© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1088859 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:34

Ecuador · 2024

© Sue Riffe · XC931242 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Uncertain0:49

Colombia · 2020

© Jerome Fischer · XC578573 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Chingaza National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~60%
2 Podocarpus National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~40%
3 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~30%
4 Farallones de Cali National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Quito 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~40%
2 Bogota 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
3 Medellín 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Masked Flowerpiercer in Bogota?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Flowerpiercer sighting in Bogota on a given day, based on 264 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 77th most-seen of the 231 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Masked Flowerpiercer in Bogota?

March, May–June and November–December

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Flowerpiercer in Bogota on a given day, against under 5% in January–February, April and July–October, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Masked Flowerpiercer?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Masked Flowerpiercer 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 Bogota the best place to see a Masked Flowerpiercer?

2nd of 3

Of the 3 cities where we can rate Masked Flowerpiercer sightings, Bogota ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Quito (Ecuador, about 40%).

Which relatives of the Masked Flowerpiercer live in Bogota?

Same genus: Diglossa

The closest relatives of the Masked Flowerpiercer that you can see in Bogota (genus Diglossa, Flowerpiercers) are Black Flowerpiercer (about 30%) and Rusty Flowerpiercer (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Masked Flowerpiercer sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Masked Flowerpiercer is recorded against all the birds logged in Bogota (264 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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