Catharus mexicanus
Silhouette: Sharon Wegner-Larsen · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The black-headed nightingale-thrush (Catharus mexicanus) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae, the thrushes and allies. It is found in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in Texas.
The black-headed nightingale-thrush was originally described in 1856 by Charles Lucien Bonaparte as Malacocychla mexicana. It was later reassigned to its present genus Catharus that had been erected in 1850. Bonaparte had noted the specie's resemblance to members of Catharus.
The black-headed nightingale's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, AviList, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign it these four subspecies: This article follows the four-subspecies model.
The black-headed nightingale-thrush is 15 to 16.5 cm (5... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cusuco National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush sighting in Poás Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 224th most-seen of the 356 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.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush in Poás Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush sightings, Poás Volcano National Park ranks 9th at under 5%. The best odds are in Cusuco National Park (Honduras, about 10%), Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica, about 10%) and Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%).
Same genus: Catharus
The closest relatives of the Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush that you can see in Poás Volcano National Park (genus Catharus, Brown Thrushes and Nightingale-Thrushes) are Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush (about 10%) and Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Poás Volcano National Park (30 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.
