Carpodectes nitidus
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The snowy cotinga (Carpodectes nitidus) is a medium-sized species of passerine bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The snowy cotinga shares genus Carpodectes with the yellow-billed cotinga (C. antoniae) and the black-tipped cotinga (C. hopkei). One early twentieth century author treated them as conspecific but they have been otherwise treated as separate species. The three form a superspecies. The snowy cotinga is monotypic.
The snowy cotinga is 19.5 to 21 cm (7.7 to 8.3 in) long and weighs an average of 105 g (3.7 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males are mostly white with a light bluish gray crown and a very light bluish gray wash on their upperparts and wings. Their flight feathers are wide and have rounded tips. Adult females have a brownish gray head and upperparts with a darker crown. Their tail is blackish. Their wings are mostly blackish with white to grayish white edges on the coverts and inner flight feathers. Their chin is a very light gray; the rest of their underparts are a paler gray than their upperparts that becomes white on the flanks, belly, and undertail... Wikipedia →
Call0:26
Costa Rica · 2018
© Brendan Sloan · XC405999 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Snowy Cotinga sighting in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 249th most-seen of the 329 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Snowy Cotinga in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in August to June, the lowest months. That is one of Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge's wettest months, with about 560 mm of rain against 140 mm in March.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Snowy Cotinga sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Snowy Cotinga sightings, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, about 10%) and La Amistad International Park (Panama) (Panama, under 5%).
Same family: Cotingidae
The closest relatives of the Snowy Cotinga that you can see in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (family Cotingidae, Cotingas) are Masked Tityra (about 20%), Cinnamon Becard (about 10%) and Purple-throated Fruitcrow (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Snowy Cotinga is recorded against all the birds logged in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (30 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.
