Southern Yellowthroat

Southern Yellowthroat

Geothlypis velata

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Iguaçu National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

638 Verified sightings at Iguaçu National Park From 2019 to 2026
2,271 In all 14 parks
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Southern Yellowthroat

The southern yellowthroat (Geothlypis velata) is a species of bird in the family Parulidae, the New World warblers. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The southern yellowthroat was formally described in 1809 with the binomial Sylvia velata, mistakenly classing it with the Old World warblers.

The southern yellowthroat's taxonomy is not yet resolved. Well into the twenty-first century it was treated as a subspecies of the masked yellowthroat (Geothlypis aequinoctialis). In 2015 the IOC recognized it again as a full species and in 2022 the Clements taxonomy followed suit. The initial version of AviList in 2025 also treats it as a species. However, as of late 2025 and early 2026, respectively, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) and the South American Classification Committee retain it as a subspecies of the masked yellowthroat.

The southern yellowthroat is 13 to 14.3 cm (5.1 to 5.6 in) long and weighs 11 to 17 g (0.39 to 0.60 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males have a wide black mask from their forehead and forecrown around the eye and including the ear coverts... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:43

Brazil · 2026

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC1136832 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:48

Argentina · 2023

© Marcos E. Sosa · XC1018812 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:13

Brazil · 2016

© Mateus G. Santos · XC357645 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Chapada Diamantina National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
2 El Palmar National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~20%
3 Serra da Canastra National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
4 Iguazú National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~20%
5 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
6 Emas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
7 El Impenetrable National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
8 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
9 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
10 Serra dos Órgãos National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
11 Chapada dos Guimarães National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
12 Itatiaia National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
13 Amboró National Park 🇧🇴 Bolivia
<5%
14 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Buenos Aires 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
2 São Paulo 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
3 Curitiba 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
4 Rosario 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
5 Campinas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
6 Porto Alegre 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
7 Santos 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
8 Asuncion 🇵🇾 Paraguay
<5%
9 Belo Horizonte 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
10 Montevideo 🇺🇾 Uruguay
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Southern Yellowthroat in Iguaçu National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Yellowthroat sighting in Iguaçu National Park on a given day, based on 638 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 74th most-seen of the 346 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Southern Yellowthroat in Iguaçu National Park?

October

In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Yellowthroat in Iguaçu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in July–August and December–May, the lowest months. That is one of Iguaçu National Park's wettest months, with about 240 mm of rain against 100 mm in August.

What time of day is best to see a Southern Yellowthroat?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Yellowthroat sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Southern Yellowthroat live in Iguaçu National Park?

Same family: Parulidae

The closest relatives of the Southern Yellowthroat that you can see in Iguaçu National Park (family Parulidae, New World Warblers) are Golden-crowned Warbler (about 60%), Tropical Parula (about 40%) and Riverbank Warbler (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Southern Yellowthroat sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Southern Yellowthroat is recorded against all the birds logged in Iguaçu National Park (638 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.

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