Atlapetes tibialis
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The yellow-thighed brushfinch (Atlapetes tibialis) is a passerine bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. The yellow-thighed brushfinch has a complicated taxonomic history. It was formally described in 1864 with the binomial Tachyphonus tibialis. For a time later in the nineteenth century some authors placed it in genus Buarremon. In 1898 Robert Ridgway erected genus Pselliophorus and named tibialis as the type species.
The species' further taxonomy is unresolved. In 2019 the American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy merged Pselliophorus into Atlapetes. The IOC followed suit in 2020 and the first version of AviList followed them in 2025. However, as of late 2025 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) retains the species in Pselliophorus.
The yellow-thighed brushfinch is monotypic. The yellow-thighed brushfinch is about 18 cm (7.1 in) long and weighs 27 to 35 g (0.95 to 1.2 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have puffy lemon yellow feathers on their tibiae that give the species its English name. They have a black crown. The rest... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Irazú Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zagreb Zoo | 🇭🇷 Croatia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-thighed Finch sighting in Poás Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 362 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 68th most-seen of the 356 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, August and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-thighed Finch in Poás Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-thighed Finch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Yellow-thighed Finch sightings, Poás Volcano National Park ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Los Quetzales National Park (Costa Rica, about 60%), Volcán Barú National Park (Panama, about 50%) and Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-thighed Finch is recorded against all the birds logged in Poás Volcano National Park (362 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.
