Ramphocaenus melanurus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The trilling gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus), formerly long-billed gnatwren, is a very small bird in the gnatcatcher family. It found from southeast Mexico south to Ecuador and Amazonia. The trilling gnatwren was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819 from a specimen collected in Brazil. He coined the binomial name Ramphocaenus melanurus. The genus name Ramphocaenus means "unusual beak", from the Ancient Greek rhamphos (ῥάµϕος, "beak") and cænos (καινός, "strange"). The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek melas "black" and oura "tail". A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that two subspecies of Ramphocaenus melanurus formed a separate clade. The subspecies were split off to become the chattering gnatwren and the English name of this species was changed from "long-billed gnatwren" to "trilling gnatwren".
Thirteen subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 3 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 6 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Gnatwren sighting in Corcovado National Park on a given day, based on 344 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 107th most-seen of the 332 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June, October and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Gnatwren in Corcovado National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-billed Gnatwren sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
16th of 54
Of the 54 parks where we can rate Long-billed Gnatwren sightings, Corcovado National Park ranks 16th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 40%), Pico Bonito National Park (Honduras, about 30%) and Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-billed Gnatwren is recorded against all the birds logged in Corcovado National Park (344 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.
