Black-capped Donacobius

Black-capped Donacobius

Donacobius atricapilla

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at São Paulo

In 3 days <5%

51 Verified sightings at São Paulo
4,102 In all 12 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Black-capped Donacobius

The black-capped donacobius (Donacobius atricapilla) is a conspicuous, vocal South American bird and the only bird in the genus Donacobius and family Donacobiidae. It is distributed across the northern half of South America.

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the black-capped donacobius in his Ornithologie based on a specimen that he mistakenly believed had been collected from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He used the French name Le merle a test noire de Cap de Bonne Espérance and the Latin Merula Atricapilla Capitis Bonae Spei. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the black-capped donacobius. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Turdus atricapilla and cited Brisson's work. The type location was subsequently corrected to eastern Brazil. The specific name atricapilla is Latin for... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:09

Brazil · 2026

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC1186034 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:16

Ecuador · 2026

© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1182586 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Recording0:18

Argentina · 2016

© Guillermo Menéndez (gmmv80) · XC796779 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~70%
2 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~30%
3 Amacayacu National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~30%
4 Yasuní National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~20%
5 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
~20%
6 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~10%
7 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
~10%
8 Serra da Canastra National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
9 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
10 Iguazú National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
11 Chapada Diamantina National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
12 Itatiaia National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Rio de Janeiro 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
2 Belo Horizonte 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
3 Goiânia 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
4 Maceió 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
5 Valencia 🇻🇪 Venezuela
<5%
6 São Paulo 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Black-capped Donacobius in São Paulo?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Donacobius sighting in São Paulo on a given day, based on 51 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 227th most-seen of the 353 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 Black-capped Donacobius in São Paulo?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Donacobius in São Paulo on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Black-capped Donacobius?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-capped Donacobius 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 São Paulo the best place to see a Black-capped Donacobius?

Among the best

Of the 6 cities where we can rate Black-capped Donacobius sightings, São Paulo ranks 6th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil, under 5%), Belo Horizonte (Brazil, under 5%) and Goiânia (Brazil, under 5%).

Which relatives of the Black-capped Donacobius live in São Paulo?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the Black-capped Donacobius that you can see in São Paulo (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Great Kiskadee (over 90%), Sayaca Tanager (about 90%) and Rufous-bellied Thrush (about 80%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Black-capped Donacobius sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Black-capped Donacobius is recorded against all the birds logged in São Paulo (51 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.

← Back to São Paulo