Sturnella loyca
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The long-tailed meadowlark (Leistes loyca) is a passerine bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is found in Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands. The long-tailed meadowlark has a complicated taxonomic history. It was formally described in 1782 with the binomial Sturnus Loyca [sic]. In the 1800s it was assigned to genus Sturnella, and for a time it and two other species were separated in genus Pezites. This genus was later again merged into Sturnella. In 2016 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assigned it to its current genus Leistes that had been erected in 1825. By 2019 the IOC, the Clements taxonomy, and the South American Classification Committee had also made the reassignment.
The long-tailed meadowlark has these four subspecies: Males weigh an average of 112 g (4.0 oz) and females 97 g (3.4 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies L. l. loyca have a... Wikipedia →
Recording0:12
Chile · 2026
© Sebastian Morales · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:17
Chile · 2025
© Chris · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Argentina · 2022
© Nicolas Olejnik · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 3 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Meadowlark sighting in Santiago on a given day, based on 2,349 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 19th most-seen of the 110 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to July
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Meadowlark in Santiago on a given day, against about 20% in December to February, the lowest months. Those are among Santiago's wettest months, with about 40 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in December.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-tailed Meadowlark sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Long-tailed Meadowlark sightings, Santiago has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Mendoza (Argentina, under 5%).
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the Long-tailed Meadowlark that you can see in Santiago (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Shiny Cowbird (about 60%), Austral Blackbird (about 60%) and Yellow-winged Blackbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-tailed Meadowlark is recorded against all the birds logged in Santiago (2,349 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.
