Ochthoeca fumicolor
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The brown-backed chat-tyrant (Ochthoeca fumicolor) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The brown-backed chat-tyrant's taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, the Clements taxonomy, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) assign it these four subspecies:
However, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC) includes a fifth subspecies, O. f. superciliosa, that the other systems had also long included. It had been originally described in 1870 as a species and the SACC notes that at least one author early in the twentieth century continued to recognize it as one. HBW recognized that taxon as the rufous-browed chat-tyrant in 2016, Clements in 2022, and the IOC in 2023.
This article follows the four-subspecies model. The brown-backed chat-tyrant is 14.5 to 16 cm (5.7 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 16 to 19 g (0.56 to 0.67 oz). The sexes... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant sighting in Podocarpus National Park on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 310th most-seen of the 446 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 and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant in Podocarpus National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and August–April, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown-backed Chat-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.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant sightings, Podocarpus National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Chingaza National Natural Park (Colombia, about 40%) and Los Nevados National Natural Park (Colombia, about 30%).
Same genus: Ochthoeca
The closest relatives of the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant that you can see in Podocarpus National Park (genus Ochthoeca, Typical Chat-Tyrants) are Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant (about 20%), Yellow Bellied Chat Tyrant (about 10%) and Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant is recorded against all the birds logged in Podocarpus National Park (21 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.
