Ochthoeca frontalis
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The crowned chat-tyrant (Silvicultrix frontalis) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The crowned chat-tyrant was formally described in 1847 by Frédéric de Lafresnaye as Tyrannula frontalis. In 1966 Meyer de Schauensee placed it in genus Ochthoeca. Wesley Lanyon moved it to Silvicultrix when he erected that genus in 1986. The IOC adopted the change in 2009. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) adopted the change in 2016, the Clements taxonomy in 2022, and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC) in 2023.
The crowned chat-tyrant's further taxonomy is unsettled. Clements does separate the two pairs within its one species as "crowned chat-tyrant (crowned)" and "crowned chat-tyrant (Kalinowski's)". Wikipedia →
Recording
© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XCXC1175816 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Recording
© Jerome Fischer · XCXC704098 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording
© Nick Bayly · XCXC684132 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Crowned Chat Tyrant sighting in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, based on 287 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 159th most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–June and August–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Crowned Chat Tyrant in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and October–February, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crowned Chat 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.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Crowned Chat Tyrant sightings, Los Nevados National Natural Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Chingaza National Natural Park (Colombia, about 10%).
Same genus: Ochthoeca
The closest relatives of the Crowned Chat Tyrant that you can see in Los Nevados National Natural Park (genus Ochthoeca, Typical Chat-Tyrants) are Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant (about 30%) and Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crowned Chat Tyrant is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Nevados National Natural Park (287 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.
