Holcosus festivus
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
Holcosus festivus, commonly known as the Central American whiptail, the Middle American ameiva, and the tiger ameiva, is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. The species is native to Central America and northern South America.
H. festivus is found from southern Mexico to Colombia. H. festivus is brown-colored, with darker browns making a zig-zag pattern down the back. A similar species is Holcosus quadrilineatus. Juveniles have metallic-blue tails.
H. festivus lives in open habitats. H. f. occidentalis Taylor, 1956 – Costa Rica Nota bene: A taxon author (binomial authority or trinomial authority) in parentheses indicates that the taxon (species or subspecies) was originally described in a different genus (in this case, a genus other than Holcosus).
The subspecific name, edwardsii, is in honor of French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Pico Bonito National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 5 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Utría National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 8 | Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇧🇿 Belize | |
| 9 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 12 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 13 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 15 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 16 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 18 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 19 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 21 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Middle American Ameiva sighting in Piedras Blancas National Park on a given day, based on 96 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 35 reptiles 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.
June and July
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Middle American Ameiva in Piedras Blancas National Park on a given day, against about 10% in October, the lowest month.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Middle American Ameiva sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Middle American Ameiva sightings, Piedras Blancas National Park ranks 6th at about 50%. The best odds are in Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 70%), Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 60%) and Braulio Carrillo National Park (Costa Rica, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Holcosus
The closest relatives of the Middle American Ameiva that you can see in Piedras Blancas National Park (genus Holcosus, Northwestern Ameivas) are Delicate Ameiva (about 30%) and Four-lined Ameiva (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Middle American Ameiva is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Piedras Blancas National Park (96 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.
