Discosura popelairii
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The wire-crested thorntail (Discosura popelairii) is a hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in humid forests in the Andean foothills of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and possibly Bolivia.
The wire-crested thorntail and three other species were at one time placed in genus Popelairia but since the late 1900s that genus has been merged into the present Discosura. Some authors have further merged Discosura into Lophornis but this treatment has not been widely accepted. The species is monotypic.
The wire-crested thorntail is one of the smallest birds on Earth, with a mature weight of about 2.5 g (0.088 oz). Males are about 11.4 cm (4.5 in) long, including tail extension, and females about 7.5 to 8.2 cm (3.0 to 3.2 in). Adults of both sexes have coppery green upperparts with a white band across the rump. Males have a glittering green crown with a thin hair-like crest. Its gorget is iridescent green, the flanks brownish with a white patch, and the rest of the underparts black. The tail is steely blue with white feather shafts, deeply forked, and the outer feathers are very narrow which with the crest... Wikipedia →
Recording
© Jerome Fischer · XCXC209302 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording
© Daniel Lane · XCXC62904 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Wire-crested Thorntail sighting in Podocarpus National Park on a given day, based on 269 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 74th most-seen of the 446 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Wire-crested Thorntail in Podocarpus National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May, July and September–January, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Wire-crested Thorntail 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 2 parks where we can rate Wire-crested Thorntail sightings, Podocarpus National Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Manu National Park (Peru, under 5%).
Same family: Trochilidae
The closest relatives of the Wire-crested Thorntail that you can see in Podocarpus National Park (family Trochilidae, Hummingbirds) are Collared Inca (about 40%), Amethyst-throated Sunangel (about 40%) and Chestnut-breasted Coronet (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Wire-crested Thorntail is recorded against all the birds logged in Podocarpus National Park (269 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.
