Polioptila dumicola
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The masked gnatcatcher (Polioptila dumicola) is a small songbird in the family Polioptilidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The last subspecies differs in both plumage and voice from the other two and may represent a separate species.
The masked gnatcatcher is 12 to 13 cm (4.7 to 5.1 in) long and weighs 5 to 7 g (0.18 to 0.25 oz), larger than most other gnatcatchers. The nominate male has a large black mask with a thin white line below it. Its forehead, crown, nape, and upperparts are blue-gray. Its tail is mostly black with white outer feathers. Its throat is pale gray fading to whitish on the belly. The nominate female does not have a mask but instead a black crescent down from the eye. Its upperparts are duller and not as bluish. P. d. saturata is darker than the nominate; it is slate gray overall that is lighter on the underside. The P. d. berlepschi male is paler than the nominate, dull gray rather than blue-gray above and white below, and has a narrower mask... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Palmar National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 4 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Cordoba | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 8 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Gnatcatcher sighting in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, based on 508 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 85th most-seen of the 308 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Gnatcatcher in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, against about 20% in June, September and November–December, the lowest months. That is one of Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 190 mm in January. January to April have too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Masked Gnatcatcher sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Masked Gnatcatcher sightings, Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas ranks 4th at about 30%. The best odds are in El Palmar National Park (Argentina, about 60%), Iberá National Park (Argentina, about 50%) and El Impenetrable National Park (Argentina, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Masked Gnatcatcher that you can see in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Great Kiskadee (about 80%), Southern Rough-winged Swallow (about 70%) and Black-capped Donacobius (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Masked Gnatcatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (508 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.
