Polioptila plumbea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The tropical gnatcatcher (Polioptila plumbea) is a small active insectivorous songbird, which is a resident species throughout a large part of northern South America. It was formerly considered as conspecific with the white-browed gnatcatcher and the Marañón gnatcatcher.
The tropical gnatcatcher was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Todus, coined the binomial name Todus plumbeus and specified the type locality as Suriname in South America. The specific epithet plumbeus is Latin meaning "plumbeous" or "lead-coloured". Gmelin based his account on the "Plumbeous tody" that had been described in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had examined a specimen in the collection of the British Museum. The tropical gnatcatcher is now one of 17 gnatcatchers placed in the genus Polioptila that was introduced in 1855 by the English zoologist Philip Sclater.
The tropical gnatcatcher was formerly considered to conspecific with the white-browed gnatcatcher (Polioptila bilineata) and the Marañón... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tropical Gnatcatcher sighting in Natal on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 42nd most-seen of the 50 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, July and September–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tropical Gnatcatcher in Natal on a given day, against under 5% in March–April and August, the lowest months. January–February and June have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tropical Gnatcatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 13
Of the 13 cities where we can rate Tropical Gnatcatcher sightings, Natal ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Guayaquil (Ecuador, about 30%), Valencia (Venezuela, about 20%) and Maracaibo (Venezuela, about 20%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Tropical Gnatcatcher that you can see in Natal (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Great Kiskadee (about 90%), Southern House Wren (about 80%) and Bananaquit (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tropical Gnatcatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Natal (8 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.
