Sciurus stramineus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The Guayaquil squirrel (Sciurus stramineus) is a tree squirrel endemic to Ecuador and Peru. It is a robust squirrel with a head-and-body length of 18 to 32 cm (7 to 13 in) and a similar length tail. The colour is variable; in Peru, a pale morph is more common, while in Ecuador, most individuals have darker grey fur on the forequarters, dull orange hindquarters. A melanistic morph is sometimes seen. It lives largely in trees and is diurnal, feeding on seeds, flowers, and other plant material, fungi and some insects. These squirrels are also found in urban areas, living in close proximity to humans, and may be vectors for leptospirosis and Chagas disease. This squirrel faces no particular threats, has a wide range and is relatively common, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".
Guayaquil squirrels are relatively heavily built squirrels, weighing around 470 grams (17 oz). They measure from 18 to 32 centimetres (7.1 to 12.6 in) in head-body length, and have a long tail, measuring 25 to 33 centimetres (9.8 to 13.0 in), in proportion to their body. The scientific name means "straw-coloured squirrel", but, in fact... Wikipedia →
Defensive call0:29
Ecuador · 2024
© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1017988 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wiwa Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
No species of the same family or order lives in Machalilla National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Guayaquil Squirrel sighting in Machalilla National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 5 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and July
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Guayaquil Squirrel in Machalilla National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–February, May–June and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Guayaquil Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 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 Guayaquil Squirrel sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Guayaquil Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Machalilla National Park (16 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.
