Flame-crested Tanager

Flame-crested Tanager

Loriotus cristatus

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Serra dos Órgãos National Park

In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%

222 Verified sightings at Serra dos Órgãos National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,329 In all 12 parks
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Flame-crested Tanager

The flame-crested tanager (Loriotus cristatus) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the flame-crested tanager in the supplement to his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Cayenne, which was the contemporary name for French Guiana. He used the French name Le tangara noir hupé de Cayenne and the Latin name Tangara cayanensis nigra cristata. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognized by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson in his Ornithologie. One of these was the flame-crested tanager. Linnaeus included a terse description, coined the binomial name Tanagra cristata, and cited Brisson's work.

The flame-crested tanager's further taxonomy is complicated. In 1869, August von Pelzeln assigned... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:42

Brazil · 2026

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC1162288 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Canto0:42

Brazil · 2019

© Caio Brito · XC556618 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Begging call0:30

Ecuador · 1994

© Mitch Lysinger · XC261235 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Serra dos Órgãos National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~40%
2 Tijuca National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
3 Yasuní National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~10%
4 Podocarpus National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~10%
5 Brownsberg Nature Park 🇸🇷 Suriname
~10%
6 Sierra de la Macarena National Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
7 Amacayacu National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
8 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
<5%
9 Anavilhanas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
10 Chapada dos Guimarães National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
11 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
<5%
12 Itatiaia National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Rio de Janeiro 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
2 Santos 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
3 João Pessoa 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
4 Niterói 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Flame-crested Tanager in Serra dos Órgãos National Park?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Flame-crested Tanager sighting in Serra dos Órgãos National Park on a given day, based on 222 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 67th most-seen of the 336 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Flame-crested Tanager in Serra dos Órgãos National Park?

July and September

In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Flame-crested Tanager in Serra dos Órgãos National Park on a given day, against about 20% in January and November, the lowest months. Those are among Serra dos Órgãos National Park's driest months, with about 85 mm of rain a month against 310 mm in November.

What time of day is best to see a Flame-crested Tanager?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Flame-crested Tanager sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Serra dos Órgãos National Park the best place to see a Flame-crested Tanager?

Yes

Of the 12 parks where we can rate Flame-crested Tanager sightings, Serra dos Órgãos National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Tijuca National Park (Brazil, about 10%) and Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Flame-crested Tanager live in Serra dos Órgãos National Park?

Same family: Thraupidae

The closest relatives of the Flame-crested Tanager that you can see in Serra dos Órgãos National Park (family Thraupidae, Tanagers and Allies) are Bananaquit (about 70%), Saffron Finch (about 70%) and Golden-chevroned Tanager (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Flame-crested Tanager sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Flame-crested Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in Serra dos Órgãos National Park (222 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.

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