Rhynchocyclus brevirostris
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The eye-ringed flatbill (Rhynchocyclus brevirostris) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country, and Colombia. The eye-ringed flatbill was originally described in 1847 as Cyclorhynchus brevirostris. For a time in the early twentieth century what is now the Pacific flatbill (R. pacificus) was also treated as a subspecies.
The eye-ringed flatbill is 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 21 to 23 g (0.74 to 0.81 oz). The sexes have almost the same plumage. Adults have a bold white eye-ring, a faint dark smudge below the eye, grayish lores and cheeks, and a dusky patch behind grayish ear coverts. The rest of their head and their entire upperparts are olive-green. Their wings and tail are dusky with paler yellow-olive edges on the feathers. Males have stiff comb-like barbs on the outer primaries; females lack them. In both sexes the throat and upper breast are dull to dusky olive-green that becomes paler... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eye-ringed Flatbill sighting in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 266 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 101st most-seen of the 288 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–June and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Eye-ringed Flatbill in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eye-ringed Flatbill sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Eye-ringed Flatbill sightings, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tikal National Park (Guatemala, about 30%), Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 20%) and El Triunfo (Mexico, about 20%).
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Eye-ringed Flatbill that you can see in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (family Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers) are Social Flycatcher (about 70%), Great Kiskadee (about 50%) and Couch's Kingbird (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eye-ringed Flatbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (266 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.
