Sciurus stramineus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The Guayaquil squirrel (Sciurus stramineus) is a tree squirrel endemic to Ecuador and Peru. It is a robust squirrel with a head-and-body length of 18 to 32 cm (7 to 13 in) and a similar length tail. The colour is variable; in Peru, a pale morph is more common, while in Ecuador, most individuals have darker grey fur on the forequarters, dull orange hindquarters. A melanistic morph is sometimes seen. It lives largely in trees and is diurnal, feeding on seeds, flowers, and other plant material, fungi and some insects. These squirrels are also found in urban areas, living in close proximity to humans, and may be vectors for leptospirosis and Chagas disease. This squirrel faces no particular threats, has a wide range and is relatively common, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".
Guayaquil squirrels are relatively heavily built squirrels, weighing around 470 grams (17 oz). They measure from 18 to 32 centimetres (7.1 to 12.6 in) in head-body length, and have a long tail, measuring 25 to 33 centimetres (9.8 to 13.0 in), in proportion to their body. The scientific name means "straw-coloured squirrel", but, in fact... Wikipedia →
Defensive call0:29
Ecuador · 2024
© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1017988 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wiwa Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Guayaquil Squirrel sighting in Guayaquil on a given day, based on 68 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Guayaquil Squirrel in Guayaquil on a given day, against about 20% in September, the lowest month. That is one of Guayaquil's driest months, with almost no rain against 220 mm in February.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Guayaquil Squirrel 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 Guayaquil, in our data
Guayaquil is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Guayaquil Squirrel sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Guayaquil Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Guayaquil (68 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.
