Elaenia mesoleuca
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The olivaceous elaenia (Elaenia mesoleuca) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Though one mid-late twentieth century publication credited Lichtenstein with the species description, since the 1990s taxonomic systems attribute it to Deppe.
The olivaceous elaenia is monotypic. The olivaceous elaenia is 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 16 to 20 g (0.56 to 0.71 oz). It is a small elaenia without a crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a dull olive crown with minimal or no white in the middle. They have a white eyering. Their upperparts are dull olive. Their wings are dusky with yellowish or white tips on the coverts that show as two wing bars. Their flight feathers have narrow whitish edges. Their tail is dusky. Their throat is dull gray, their breast olive in a vest-like pattern, their belly white, and their flanks and undertail coverts whitish with a yellow wash. Both sexes have a brown iris, a black bill with a dusky pinkish base to the mandible, and black legs and feet. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Olivaceous Elaenia sighting in Iguazú National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 329th most-seen of the 343 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Olivaceous Elaenia in Iguazú National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Olivaceous Elaenia sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Olivaceous Elaenia sightings, Iguazú National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Itatiaia National Park (Brazil, about 10%) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil, under 5%).
Same genus: Elaenia
The closest relatives of the Olivaceous Elaenia that you can see in Iguazú National Park (genus Elaenia, Typical Elaenias) are Yellow-bellied Elaenia (about 10%) and Large Elaenia (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Olivaceous Elaenia is recorded against all the birds logged in Iguazú National Park (7 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.
