Phytotoma rara
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The rufous-tailed plantcutter (Phytotoma rara), sometimes called the Chilean plantcutter, is a passerine bird of southern South America, now placed in the cotinga family. It is a medium-sized bird about 19 centimetres (7.5 in) long with a long black tail with a red base. Males have greyish-brown upper parts, a chestnut crown and breast, and dark facial markings. Females are similar but lack the chestnut crown and have streaked, buff underparts. There is a wing bar which is white in the male and buff in the female. This is a fairly common species with a wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
It is a stocky bird, 18-20 centimetres in length, with short wings and a red eye. The longish tail is black with a reddish base. The upperparts of the male are grey-brown with dark streaks while the crown and underparts are chestnut-coloured. There is a white bar on the wing and a pattern of dark and pale areas on the face. Females have buff underparts with brown streaks and have buff rather than white in the wings. They do not have the males' chestnut crown but may show a cinnamon wash to... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 2 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Plantcutter sighting in Nahuel Huapi National Park on a given day, based on 166 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 111 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October to December
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-tailed Plantcutter in Nahuel Huapi National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to August, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-tailed Plantcutter sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Rufous-tailed Plantcutter sightings, Nahuel Huapi National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 20%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Rufous-tailed Plantcutter that you can see in Nahuel Huapi National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Austral Thrush (about 70%), Southern House Wren (about 50%) and Rufous-collared Sparrow (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-tailed Plantcutter is recorded against all the birds logged in Nahuel Huapi National Park (166 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.
