Muscisaxicola maclovianus
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The dark-faced ground tyrant (Muscisaxicola maclovianus) is a small passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, possibly in Ecuador, and as a vagrant to Brazil.
The dark-faced ground tyrant was originally described as Sylvia macloviana, placing it with the Old World warblers. It was eventually moved to genus Muscisaxicola which had been erected in 1837. Because that genus is masculine the specific epithet was changed to follow the rules of binomial nomenclature.
The dark-faced ground tyrant is 15 to 16.5 cm (5.9 to 6.5 in) long. The two subspecies and both sexes have the same plumage, though subspecies M. m. mentalis is significantly smaller than the nominate. Adults have a blackish forehead, lores, and cheeks and a dull chestnut-brown crown. Their upperparts are mostly dark brown to smoky brown with a black lower rump. Their wings are a duskier brown than the upperparts. Their tail is black with whitish...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Falkland Islands | 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands | |
| 2 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 4 | Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 5 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 3 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant sighting in Falkland Islands on a given day, based on 1,181 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 79 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, June and October–November
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant in Falkland Islands on a given day, against about 50% in April and August, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant sightings, Falkland Islands has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Tierra del Fuego National Park (Argentina, about 20%) and Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 20%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant that you can see in Falkland Islands (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Austral Thrush (about 70%), Long-tailed Meadowlark (about 50%) and White-bridled Finch (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant is recorded against all the birds logged in Falkland Islands (1,181 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.
