Euphonia affinis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The scrub euphonia (Euphonia affinis) is a species of bird in the family Fringillidae, the finches and euphonias. It is found from Mexico to Costa Rica. The scrub euphonia was originally described in 1842 with the binomial Tanagra (Euphonia) affinis. Genus Tanagra was later subsumed into Euphonia. The genus Euphonia had long placed in the family Thraupidae, the "true" tanagers. Multiple studies in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries resulted in its being reassigned to its present place in the family Fringillidae.
The scrub euphonia's further taxonomy is unsettled. In that year they recognized godmani as a full species, the West Mexican euphonia. However, as of late 2025, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) retains godmani as a subspecies of the scrub euphonia.
This article follows the two-subspecies model. The scrub euphonia is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long. It weighs 8.5 to 12.8... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 2 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 3 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xcaret | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Scrub Euphonia sighting in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 162 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 129th 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.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Scrub Euphonia in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January and March, the lowest months. That is one of Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve's wettest months, with about 160 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 Scrub Euphonia sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
16th of 26
Of the 26 parks where we can rate Scrub Euphonia sightings, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve ranks 16th at about 10%. The best odds are in Masaya Volcano National Park (Nicaragua, about 60%), Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%) and Pico Bonito National Park (Honduras, about 30%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scrub Euphonia is recorded against all the birds logged in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (162 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.
