Donacospiza albifrons
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The long-tailed reed finch (Donacospiza albifrons) is a species of South American bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of its genus Donacospiza. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Its natural habitats are temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and swamps. The long-tailed reed finch was formally described in 1817 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot under the binomial name Sylvia albifrons. Vieillot based his description on the Cola Aguda del Vientre de Canela that had been described by the Spanish naturalist Félix de Azara in 1805 based on a specimen obtained in Paraguay. The long-tailed reed finch is now the only member of the genus Donacospiza that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek donax meaning "reed" or "cane" with spiza meaning "finch". The specific epithet combines the Latin albus meaning "white" with frons meaning "forehead" or "front". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the long-tailed... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | El Palmar National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Reed Finch sighting in El Palmar National Park on a given day, based on 61 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 88th most-seen of the 151 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.
May, July and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Reed Finch in El Palmar National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, June and December, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-tailed Reed Finch 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 Long-tailed Reed Finch sightings, El Palmar National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Iberá National Park (Argentina, about 20%).
Same family: Thraupidae
The closest relatives of the Long-tailed Reed Finch that you can see in El Palmar National Park (family Thraupidae, Tanagers and Allies) are Golden-billed Saltator (about 80%), Sayaca Tanager (about 70%) and Brazilian Cardinal (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-tailed Reed Finch is recorded against all the birds logged in El Palmar National Park (61 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.
