Chlorospingus pileatus
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The sooty-capped chlorospingus (Chlorospingus pileatus) or sooty-capped bush tanager, is a small passerine bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. The sooty-capped chlorospingus was formally described in 1865 with its current binomial Chlorospingus pileatus. At the time the Chlorospingus species were members of the family Thraupidae, the "true" tanagers, though their positions within the family were uncertain. Based on studies published in 2002, 2003, and 2007, beginning in 2010 taxonomic systems transferred Chlorospingus to its present sparrow family. The Chlorospingus species were originally called "bush tanagers" or "bush-tanagers". Beginning in 2013 systems began changing the English name of the members of the genus to "chlorospingus" because they were no longer considered tanagers.
The sooty-capped chlorospingus' further taxonomy is unresolved. The IOC, AviList, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treat it as monotypic. In addition to the systems that do not... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irazú Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager sighting in Los Quetzales National Park on a given day, based on 8,848 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 6th most-seen of the 252 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to October
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager in Los Quetzales National Park on a given day, against about 70% in November to May, the lowest months. Those are among Los Quetzales National Park's wettest months, with about 500 mm of rain a month against 70 mm in February.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager 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 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager sightings, Los Quetzales National Park ranks 2nd at about 70%. The best odds are in Irazú Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 80%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Quetzales National Park (8,848 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.
