Phaethornis eurynome
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The scale-throated hermit (Phaethornis eurynome) is a species in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Though the scale-throated hermit is a member of the large genus Phaethornis it seems to have no close relatives. The supposed "black-billed hermit", described as P. nigrirostris, was proven to be a mutant P. eurynome with an all-black bill.
The scale-throated hermit is about 14 to 14.5 cm (5.5 to 5.7 in) long. Males weigh 4.5 to 6 g (0.16 to 0.21 oz) and females 4 to 5 g (0.14 to 0.18 oz). This medium-sized hermit is olive green above with grayish underparts. Its dark throat whose feathers have lighter edges give the eponymous scaly appearance. The face has a black "mask" with a pale supercilium and gular stripe. Its tail feathers have white tips and the middle pair are longer than the others. The sexes are similar but the female has shorter wings and a less strongly decurved bill. The two subspecies have identical plumage but... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Scale-throated Hermit sighting in Iguaçu National Park on a given day, based on 378 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 117th most-seen of the 346 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Scale-throated Hermit in Iguaçu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in June–September and November–April, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scale-throated Hermit sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Scale-throated Hermit sightings, Iguaçu National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Itatiaia National Park (Brazil, about 40%), Serra dos Órgãos National Park (Brazil, about 20%) and Iguazú National Park (Argentina, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scale-throated Hermit is recorded against all the birds logged in Iguaçu National Park (378 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.
