Muscisaxicola maclovianus
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The dark-faced ground tyrant (Muscisaxicola maclovianus) is a small passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, possibly in Ecuador, and as a vagrant to Brazil.
The dark-faced ground tyrant was originally described as Sylvia macloviana, placing it with the Old World warblers. It was eventually moved to genus Muscisaxicola which had been erected in 1837. Because that genus is masculine the specific epithet was changed to follow the rules of binomial nomenclature.
The dark-faced ground tyrant is 15 to 16.5 cm (5.9 to 6.5 in) long. The two subspecies and both sexes have the same plumage, though subspecies M. m. mentalis is significantly smaller than the nominate. Adults have a blackish forehead, lores, and cheeks and a dull chestnut-brown crown. Their upperparts are mostly dark brown to smoky brown with a black lower rump. Their wings are a duskier brown than the upperparts. Their tail is black with whitish... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 3 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 5 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 3 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant sighting in Península Valdés on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 92nd most-seen of the 96 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant in Península Valdés on a given day, against under 5% in May and September–March, the lowest months. June and July have too few records to rate.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant sightings, Península Valdés ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Tierra del Fuego National Park (Argentina, about 20%), Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 20%) and Nahuel Huapi National Park (Argentina, about 10%).
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant that you can see in Península Valdés (family Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers) are Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant (about 20%), Lesser Shrike-Tyrant (about 10%) and Tufted Tit-Tyrant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant is recorded against all the birds logged in Península Valdés (5 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.
