Elaenia gigas
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The mottle-backed elaenia (Elaenia gigas) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The mottle-backed elaenia is monotypic.
The mottle-backed elaenia is 17.5 to 18.5 cm (6.9 to 7.3 in) long. It is a large elaenia with a prominent split crest that can look like horns. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have an olive-brown head with lighter cheeks, a faint whitish eyering, and a large white patch on the crown. Their upperparts are olive-brown with paler green-olive edges on the back feathers that give a mottled or streaked appearance. Their wings are mostly dusky; the flight feathers have whitish edges and the tips of the coverts are whitish. The latter show as two bars on the closed wing. Their tail is dusky. Their throat is gray, their breast and flanks gray with olive streaks or cloudiness, and their belly and undertail coverts pale yellow. Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a black bill with a dull pinkish base to the mandible, and black legs and feet.
The mottle-backed elaenia is found at the base... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 2 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mottle-backed Elaenia sighting in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 307th most-seen of the 328 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mottle-backed Elaenia in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mottle-backed Elaenia sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Mottle-backed Elaenia sightings, Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve ranks 4th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Manu National Park (Peru, under 5%), Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, under 5%) and Podocarpus National Park (Ecuador, under 5%).
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Mottle-backed Elaenia that you can see in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (family Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers) are Tropical Kingbird (about 50%), Lesser Kiskadee (about 50%) and Great Kiskadee (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mottle-backed Elaenia is recorded against all the birds logged in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (5 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.
