Sporophila nigricollis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The yellow-bellied seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, formerly placed with the New World sparrows in the Emberizidae. The "hooded seedeater" was a proposed bird species described by Austrian ornithologist August von Pelzeln as Spermophila melanops in 1870. The only known individual was heavily moulted and caught in October 1823 from a flock of other seedeater species at the edge of a lake 15 kilometres north of Registro do Araguaia, Brazil. It is now considered to be either an abnormal specimen of the yellow-bellied seedeater or a hybrid. The bird had a black crest and throat, the upperparts were olive, and the underparts showed a dingy buff. In contrast, a typical yellow-bellied seedeater has pale yellow underparts and the black colouring extends to the upper breast.
The yellow-bellied seedeater is found in Central and South America from Costa Rica to Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, pastureland, and heavily degraded former forest. One study in Brazil estimated that 16,800 yellow-bellied... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 6 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 7 | Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 8 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-bellied Seedeater sighting in La Amistad International Park (Panama) on a given day, based on 269 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 361st most-seen of the 657 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-bellied Seedeater in La Amistad International Park (Panama) on a given day, against under 5% in September to April, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-bellied Seedeater sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
13th of 24
Of the 24 parks where we can rate Yellow-bellied Seedeater sightings, La Amistad International Park (Panama) ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 30%), Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 20%) and Farallones de Cali National Natural Park (Colombia, about 20%).
Same genus: Sporophila
The closest relatives of the Yellow-bellied Seedeater that you can see in La Amistad International Park (Panama) (genus Sporophila, Typical Seedeaters and Seed-Finches) are Variable Seedeater (about 30%), Morelet's Seedeater (about 10%) and Thick-billed Seed-Finch (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-bellied Seedeater is recorded against all the birds logged in La Amistad International Park (Panama) (269 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.
