Mecocerculus poecilocercus
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The white-tailed tyrannulet (Mecocerculus poecilocercus) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The white-tailed tyrannulet is monotypic. It and the buff-banded tyrannulet (M. hellmayri) form a superspecies.
The white-tailed tyrannulet is about 11 cm (4.3 in) long and weighs 10 to 11 g (0.35 to 0.39 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a medium gray crown. They have a thin white supercilium and a faint blackish stripe through the eye on an otherwise whitish face. Their upperparts are mostly greenish olive with a bright greenish yellow rump and uppertail coverts. Their wings are dusky with pale yellow edges on the flight feathers. Their wing coverts have white to pale buff tips that show as two bars on the closed wing. Their tail is dusky olive with a mostly to fully white outermost pair of feathers. Their throat is grayish white, their breast and sides grayish white with a darker grayish wash, and their belly and undertail coverts yellowish white. Both sexes of have a brown iris, a thin and pointed black bill, and medium gray legs... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Tyrannulet sighting in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, based on 151 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 202nd 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 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Tyrannulet in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to August, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-tailed Tyrannulet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate White-tailed Tyrannulet sightings, Los Nevados National Natural Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Podocarpus National Park (Ecuador, under 5%).
Same genus: Mecocerculus
The closest relatives of the White-tailed Tyrannulet that you can see in Los Nevados National Natural Park (genus Mecocerculus, Andean Tyrannulets) are White-throated Tyrannulet (about 30%) and White-banded Tyrannulet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-tailed Tyrannulet is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Nevados National Natural Park (151 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.
