Rufescent Tiger Heron

Rufescent Tiger Heron

Tigrisoma lineatum

Silhouette: Mannheim Reinhard Jahn (photograph) · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Rio de Janeiro

In 3 days <5%

15 Verified sightings at Rio de Janeiro
10,008 In all 23 parks From 2019 to 2026
December Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Rufescent Tiger Heron

The rufescent tiger heron (Tigrisoma lineatum) is a species of heron, birds in the family Ardeidae. It is found in wetlands from Central America through much of South America. The rufescent tiger heron was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Ardea lineata in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The rufescent tiger heron is now placed in the genus Tigrisoma that was erected by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827. The genus name Tigrisoma combines the Ancient Greek tigris, meaning "tiger" and somā, meaning "body"; the specific epithet lineatum is from the Latin lineatus meaning "marked with lines".

Two subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →

Sounds

Alarm call0:04

Brazil · 2026

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC1082122 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:20

Ecuador · 2025

© Marc Anderson · XC986562 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Recording0:24

Paraguay · 2023

© Guillermo Menéndez (gmmv80) · XC819373 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~80%
2 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~40%
3 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~40%
4 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~40%
5 El Impenetrable National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~30%
6 Yasuní National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~20%
7 Anavilhanas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
8 San Lorenzo Protected Forest 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
9 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
~10%
10 Amacayacu National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
11 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
~10%
12 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
13 Iguazú National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
14 El Palmar National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
15 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
16 Emas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
17 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
18 Sierra de la Macarena National Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
19 Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
20 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
21 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
22 Cahuita National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
23 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Buenos Aires 🇦🇷 Argentina
~30%
2 Fortaleza 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
3 Santa Cruz de la Sierra 🇧🇴 Bolivia
~10%
4 Maceió 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
5 Caracas 🇻🇪 Venezuela
~10%
6 Asuncion 🇵🇾 Paraguay
~10%
7 Recife 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
8 Belém 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
9 Campo Grande 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
10 Barranquilla 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Parque das Aves 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
2 Parque Zoobotânico Getúlio Vargas 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
3 Complejo Turistico de Quistococha 🇵🇪 Peru In captivity
4 Tropical Manaus Zoo 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
5 Aqualife 🇦🇷 Argentina In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Rufescent Tiger Heron in Rio de Janeiro?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufescent Tiger Heron sighting in Rio de Janeiro on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 228th most-seen of the 278 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Rufescent Tiger Heron in Rio de Janeiro?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufescent Tiger Heron in Rio de Janeiro on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Rufescent Tiger Heron?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufescent Tiger Heron 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 Rio de Janeiro the best place to see a Rufescent Tiger Heron?

15th of 15

Of the 15 cities where we can rate Rufescent Tiger Heron sightings, Rio de Janeiro ranks 15th at under 5%. The best odds are in Buenos Aires (Argentina, about 30%), Fortaleza (Brazil, about 20%) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Rufescent Tiger Heron live in Rio de Janeiro?

Same family: Ardeidae

The closest relatives of the Rufescent Tiger Heron that you can see in Rio de Janeiro (family Ardeidae, Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) are Snowy Egret (about 30%), Great Egret (about 30%) and Cocoi Heron (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Rufescent Tiger Heron sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Rufescent Tiger Heron is recorded against all the birds logged in Rio de Janeiro (15 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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