Lampropsar tanagrinus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The velvet-fronted grackle (Lampropsar tanagrinus) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, monotypic within the genus Lampropsar. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical swamps and heavily degraded former forest.
The velvet-fronted grackle was formally described in 1824 as Icterus tanagrinus by the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix. The specific epithet is Modern Latin meaning "tanager-like", from the genus Tanagra that had been introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1764. The type locality was designated by the Brazilian zoologist Olivério Pinto in 1944 as the left bank of the Amazon River at Itacoatiara in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. The velvet-fronted grackle is now the only species placed in the genus Lampropsar that was introduced in 1847 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. In 1848 he placed a single taxon in the genus, Lampropsa guianensis Cabanis. This is the type species. It is now considered as a subspecies of the velvet-fronted grackle. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek λαμπρος/lampros meaning "brilliant" with ψαρ/psar, ψαρος/psaros meaning...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madidi National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Amboró National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Velvet-fronted Grackle sighting in Madidi National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 139th most-seen of the 239 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Velvet-fronted Grackle in Madidi National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May, July and November, the lowest months. March and December have too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Velvet-fronted Grackle sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Velvet-fronted Grackle sightings, Madidi National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Amacayacu National Natural Park (Colombia, about 10%) and Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (Ecuador, under 5%).
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the Velvet-fronted Grackle that you can see in Madidi National Park (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Yellow-rumped Cacique (about 30%), Crested Oropendola (about 20%) and Chopí Blackbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Velvet-fronted Grackle is recorded against all the birds logged in Madidi National Park (15 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.
