Lampropsar tanagrinus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The velvet-fronted grackle (Lampropsar tanagrinus) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, monotypic within the genus Lampropsar. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical swamps and heavily degraded former forest.
The velvet-fronted grackle was formally described in 1824 as Icterus tanagrinus by the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix. The specific epithet is Modern Latin meaning "tanager-like", from the genus Tanagra that had been introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1764. The type locality was designated by the Brazilian zoologist Olivério Pinto in 1944 as the left bank of the Amazon River at Itacoatiara in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. The velvet-fronted grackle is now the only species placed in the genus Lampropsar that was introduced in 1847 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. In 1848 he placed a single taxon in the genus, Lampropsa guianensis Cabanis. This is the type species. It is now considered as a subspecies of the velvet-fronted grackle. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek λαμπρος/lampros meaning "brilliant" with ψαρ/psar, ψαρος/psaros meaning... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Amboró National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Velvet-fronted Grackle sighting in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 237th most-seen of the 328 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Velvet-fronted Grackle in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in October to August, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Velvet-fronted Grackle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Velvet-fronted Grackle sightings, Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Amacayacu National Natural Park (Colombia, about 10%).
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the Velvet-fronted Grackle that you can see in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Yellow-rumped Cacique (about 70%), Russet-backed Oropendola (about 60%) and Crested Oropendola (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Velvet-fronted Grackle is recorded against all the birds logged in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (13 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.
