Sturnella loyca
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The long-tailed meadowlark (Leistes loyca) is a passerine bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is found in Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands. The long-tailed meadowlark has a complicated taxonomic history. It was formally described in 1782 with the binomial Sturnus Loyca [sic]. In the 1800s it was assigned to genus Sturnella, and for a time it and two other species were separated in genus Pezites. This genus was later again merged into Sturnella. In 2016 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assigned it to its current genus Leistes that had been erected in 1825. By 2019 the IOC, the Clements taxonomy, and the South American Classification Committee had also made the reassignment.
The long-tailed meadowlark has these four subspecies: Males weigh an average of 112 g (4.0 oz) and females 97 g (3.4 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies L. l. loyca have a... Wikipedia →
Recording0:12
Chile · 2026
© Sebastian Morales · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:17
Chile · 2025
© Chris · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:24
Argentina · 2022
© Nicolas Olejnik · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 3 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Meadowlark sighting in Península Valdés on a given day, based on 335 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 16th most-seen of the 96 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Long-tailed Meadowlark in Península Valdés on a given day, against about 30% in March and May, the lowest months. June and July have too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-tailed Meadowlark sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Long-tailed Meadowlark sightings, Península Valdés has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 40%) and Nahuel Huapi National Park (Argentina, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-tailed Meadowlark is recorded against all the birds logged in Península Valdés (335 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.
