Yellow-bellied Seedeater

Yellow-bellied Seedeater

Sporophila nigricollis

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Medellín

In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%

771 Verified sightings at Medellín
3,473 In all 24 parks From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Yellow-bellied Seedeater

The yellow-bellied seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, formerly placed with the New World sparrows in the Emberizidae. The "hooded seedeater" was a proposed bird species described by Austrian ornithologist August von Pelzeln as Spermophila melanops in 1870. The only known individual was heavily moulted and caught in October 1823 from a flock of other seedeater species at the edge of a lake 15 kilometres north of Registro do Araguaia, Brazil. It is now considered to be either an abnormal specimen of the yellow-bellied seedeater or a hybrid. The bird had a black crest and throat, the upperparts were olive, and the underparts showed a dingy buff. In contrast, a typical yellow-bellied seedeater has pale yellow underparts and the black colouring extends to the upper breast.

The yellow-bellied seedeater is found in Central and South America from Costa Rica to Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, pastureland, and heavily degraded former forest. One study in Brazil estimated that 16,800 yellow-bellied... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:26

Ecuador · 2026

© Marco Andrés Urvina Alejandro · XC1101769 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:42

Brazil · 2026

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC1080166 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Chamado1:11

Brazil · 2018

© Caio Brito · XC556602 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Chapada Diamantina National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
2 Serra da Canastra National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
3 Farallones de Cali National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~20%
4 Piedras Blancas National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
5 Henri Pittier National Park 🇻🇪 Venezuela
~10%
6 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
7 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
8 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
9 Sierra de la Macarena National Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
10 Volcán Barú National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
11 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
12 Marino Ballena National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
13 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
14 Machalilla National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
15 Chingaza National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
16 Tayrona National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
17 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
<5%
18 Tijuca National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
19 Chirripó National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
20 Itatiaia National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
21 Podocarpus National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
22 Manuel Antonio National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
23 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
24 Corcovado National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Goiânia 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
2 Cali 🇨🇴 Colombia
~20%
3 Brasilia 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
4 Medellín 🇨🇴 Colombia
~20%
5 Valencia 🇻🇪 Venezuela
~10%
6 Caracas 🇻🇪 Venezuela
~10%
7 Quito 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~10%
8 Panama City 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
9 Belo Horizonte 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
10 Rio de Janeiro 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-bellied Seedeater in Medellín?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-bellied Seedeater sighting in Medellín on a given day, based on 771 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 37th most-seen of the 244 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Yellow-bellied Seedeater in Medellín?

June and July

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-bellied Seedeater in Medellín on a given day, against about 10% in January–February and April, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Yellow-bellied Seedeater?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-bellied Seedeater 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 Medellín the best place to see a Yellow-bellied Seedeater?

4th of 12

Of the 12 cities where we can rate Yellow-bellied Seedeater sightings, Medellín ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Goiânia (Brazil, about 30%), Cali (Colombia, about 20%) and Brasilia (Brazil, about 20%).

Where does the Yellow-bellied Seedeater sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Yellow-bellied Seedeater is recorded against all the birds logged in Medellín (771 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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