Tyrannulus elatus
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The yellow-crowned tyrannulet (Tyrannulus elatus) is a species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, and in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The yellow-crowned tyrannulet was originally described as Sylvia elata in 1790; it was reclassified in genus Tyrannulus in 1816. It is the only member of genus Tyrannulus and has no subspecies. The yellow-crowned tyrannulet is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long and weighs 6.5 to 8 g (0.23 to 0.28 oz). Adult males have a slate-gray to dark brown or blackish crown with a bright yellow to orange-yellow stripe along its middle. Their nape and back are bright olive-green. They have a grayish supercilium, a thin dark line through the eye, and a pale gray lower face. Their wings are dusky with two white to yellowish white bars. Their tail is dusky olive. Their throat is pale gray and their underparts pale to medium yellow with an olive wash on the breast. Females are smaller than males and have a paler gray crown and mid-crown stripe and slightly paler upperparts. Both sexes have... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet sighting in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 46 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 217th most-seen of the 329 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, July and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in June, August–September and November–April, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
17th of 27
Of the 27 parks where we can rate Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet sightings, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge ranks 17th at under 5%. The best odds are in Amacayacu National Natural Park (Colombia, about 30%), Tayrona National Natural Park (Colombia, about 20%) and Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, about 20%).
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet that you can see in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (family Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers) are Great Kiskadee (about 70%), Social Flycatcher (about 40%) and Tropical Kingbird (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet is recorded against all the birds logged in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (46 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.
