Legatus leucophaius
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The piratic flycatcher (Legatus leucophaius) is a passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Mexico, in every Central American country except El Salvador, in Trinidad and Tobago, and in every mainland South American country except Chile, though in Uruguay only as a vagrant. It has also occurred several times as a vagrant in the southern United States.
The piratic flycatcher was originally described in 1818 as Platyrhynchos leucophaius. It was later moved to its current genus Legatus that was erected in 1859. For a time it was also known as Legatus albicollis. The piratic flycatcher is the only member of genus Legatus.
The piratic flycatcher is 14.5 to 17 cm (5.7 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 19 to 26 g (0.67 to 0.92 oz). The sexes and the subspecies have the same plumage though subspecies L. l. variegatus is significantly larger than the nominate. Adults have a blackish forehead and crown with a partially hidden yellow patch on the latter. They have a wide dull whitish supercilium that extends... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Santos | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Piratic Flycatcher sighting in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 153 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 133rd most-seen of the 288 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Piratic Flycatcher in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months. That is one of Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve's wettest months, with about 230 mm of rain against 30 mm in March.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Piratic Flycatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
29th of 62
Of the 62 parks where we can rate Piratic Flycatcher sightings, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve ranks 29th at about 10%. The best odds are in Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%), Soberanía National Park (Panama, about 20%) and Amacayacu National Natural Park (Colombia, about 20%).
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Piratic Flycatcher 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 Piratic Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (153 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.
