Scytalopus spillmanni
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Spillmann's tapaculo (Scytalopus spillmanni) is a species of bird in the family Formicariidae. It inhabits the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. The Spillmann's tapaculo was previously considered a subspecies of brown-rumped tapaculo (Scytalopus latebircola) but was elevated to species rank due to differences in their vocalizations. It and chusquea tapaculo (S. parkeri) form a superspecies. The population in Colombia's eastern Andes might be different enoung to be a subspecies.
Spillmann's tapaculo is 12 cm (4.7 in) long. Males weigh 21 to 30 g (0.74 to 1.06 oz) and females 20 to 29.5 g (0.71 to 1.04 oz). The male is blackish gray above with a dark brown rump. It is lighter gray below with tawny to cinnamon flanks and vent area. Some females are like the male, but most have the upperparts heavily washed with brown and an orange lower belly. The juvenile is brown above and dusky below, with barring above and below.
Spillmann's tapaculo is found in all three Andean ranges of Colombia and south into Ecuador. In the west it extends to Cotopaxi Province and in the east into Morona-Santiago Province. It inhabits... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spillmann's Tapaculo sighting in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, based on 573 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 89th most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spillmann's Tapaculo in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spillmann's Tapaculo sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Los Nevados National Natural Park, in our data
Los Nevados National Natural Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Spillmann's Tapaculo sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Scytalopus
The closest relatives of the Spillmann's Tapaculo that you can see in Los Nevados National Natural Park (genus Scytalopus, Scytalopus Tapaculos) are Páramo Tapaculo (about 20%) and Blackish Tapaculo (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spillmann's Tapaculo is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Nevados National Natural Park (573 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.
