Melanopareia elegans
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The elegant crescentchest (Melanopareia elegans) is a species of bird in the family Melanopareiidae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru. The crescentchests (genus Melanopareia) were previously included in family Rhinocryptidae, the tapaculos. A 2010 publication confirmed earlier work and created their present genus. The elegant crescentchest and the Marañón crescentchest (Melanopareia maranonica) might form a superspecies. Two subspecies of elegant crescentchest are recognized, the nominate Melanopareia elegans elegans and M. e. paucalensis.
The elegant crescentchest is 14.5 cm (5.7 in) long. Males weigh 16.0 to 20.2 g (0.56 to 0.71 oz) and females 15.5 to 19.0 g (0.55 to 0.67 oz) Males of both subspecies have a black crown, nape, and mask and a creamy supercilium. The back and rump are olive-brown. Its throat is white or pale buff that is darker around the margins and a black "bib" is below it. The upper chest is dark chestnut fading to tawny on the flanks and belly. The nominate female is similar, but the crown is sooty and there is no dark chestnut on the chest. The female M. e. paucalensis is like the nominate except that its crown is... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Elegant Crescentchest sighting in Machalilla National Park on a given day, based on 133 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 48th most-seen of the 248 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Elegant Crescentchest in Machalilla National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, the lowest month. That is one of Machalilla National Park's wettest months, with about 60 mm of rain against 5 mm in September.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Elegant Crescentchest 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 Machalilla National Park, in our data
Machalilla National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Elegant Crescentchest sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Elegant Crescentchest that you can see in Machalilla National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Southern House Wren (about 60%), Long-tailed Mockingbird (about 50%) and Scrub Blackbird (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Elegant Crescentchest is recorded against all the birds logged in Machalilla National Park (133 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.
