Cacicus chrysonotus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The mountain cacique (Cacicus chrysonotus) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The mountain cacique has a complicated taxonomic history. It was formally described in 1838 with the binomial Cacicus Chrysonotus [sic]. In the first half of the twentieth century many authors placed it in genus Archiplanus which was later merged into Cacicus.
As of late 2025 taxonomic systems assign the mountain cacique these three subspecies: However, in the second half of the twentieth century and well into the twenty-first many authors treated chrysonotus as a species, the "southern mountain cacique" and the other two as the "northern mountain cacique". The IOC and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World kept them separate until 2023. The Clements taxonomy recognizes some distinction within the species, calling C. c. chrysonotus the "mountain cacique (Bolivian)" and grouping the other two subspecies... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Cacique sighting in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, based on 265 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 166th 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.
January–February and May–July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Cacique in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–April and August–December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Cacique 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 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Mountain Cacique sightings, Los Nevados National Natural Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Chingaza National Natural Park (Colombia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Cacique is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Nevados National Natural Park (265 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.
