Geothlypis aequinoctialis
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The masked yellowthroat (Geothlypis aequinoctialis) is a species of bird in the family Parulidae, the New World warblers. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad, and Venezuela. The masked yellowthroat was formally described in 1789 with the binomial Motacilla aequinoctialis, erroneously classing it as a wagtail but calling it the "equatorial warbler".
The masked yellowthroat's taxonomic history since its description is complicated and not yet resolved. Well into the twenty-first century taxonomists included up to five subspecies in it. In 2015 the IOC reclassified two of them as the black-lored yellowthroat (Geothlypis auricularis), a third as the southern yellowthroat (G. velata), and the fourth as the Chiriqui yellowthroat (G. chiriquensis), leaving the masked yellowthroat as monotypic. As of early 2026 it retains these four species.
In 2017 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) separated the black-lored and Chiriqui yellowthroats as species but retained velata as a subspecies of the masked yellowthroat. As of late 2025 it retains this three-species treatment.
In 2018 the American Ornithological... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Yellowthroat sighting in Caracas on a given day, based on 47 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 193rd most-seen of the 295 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 Masked Yellowthroat in Caracas 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 Masked Yellowthroat sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Caracas, in our data
Caracas is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Masked Yellowthroat sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Parulidae
The closest relatives of the Masked Yellowthroat that you can see in Caracas (family Parulidae, New World Warblers) are American Redstart (about 20%), Northern Yellow Warbler (about 20%) and Tropical Parula (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Masked Yellowthroat is recorded against all the birds logged in Caracas (47 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.
