Sporophila funerea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The thick-billed seed finch (Sporophila funerea) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, but was until recently placed in Emberizidae. It is found widely in shrubby and grassy areas from southern Mexico, through Central America, to the Chocó in Colombia and Ecuador. It is replaced by the closely related chestnut-bellied seed finch in South America east of the Andes, as well as the valleys of Cauca and Magdalena in Colombia. The two have often been considered conspecific as the lesser seed-finch (Sporophila angolensis).
The male is almost entirely black, with a small white wing patch. The female is a rich brown all over. They are both very similar to the all-black Caribbean slope form of the variable seedeater. It is distinguished, however, by a larger bill with a straight culmen. They measure 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long and weigh 13.5 g (0.48 oz).
BirdLife species factsheet for Sporophila funerea "Sporophila funerea". Avibase. "Thick-billed seed-finch media". Internet Bird Collection. Thick-billed seed-finch photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University) Interactive range map of Oryzoborus funereus at IUCN Red List
Audio recordings of Thick-billed... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Thick-billed Seed-Finch sighting in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary on a given day, based on 83 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 146th most-seen of the 277 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and November–May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Thick-billed Seed-Finch in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September–October, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Thick-billed Seed-Finch 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 29
Of the 29 parks where we can rate Thick-billed Seed-Finch sightings, Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%), San Lorenzo Protected Forest (Panama, about 10%) and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (Costa Rica, about 10%).
Same genus: Sporophila
The closest relatives of the Thick-billed Seed-Finch that you can see in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (genus Sporophila, Typical Seedeaters and Seed-Finches) are Morelet's Seedeater (about 30%) and Variable Seedeater (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Thick-billed Seed-Finch is recorded against all the birds logged in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (83 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
