Forest Elaenia

Forest Elaenia

Myiopagis gaimardii

Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Tambopata National Reserve

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

527 Verified sightings at Tambopata National Reserve From 2019 to 2026
5,778 In all 20 parks
July Best month
☀️🌙 Day & Night When it's spotted

About the Forest Elaenia

The forest elaenia (Myiopagis gaimardii) is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from Panama through Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas to Bolivia and Brazil. It also occurs on Trinidad. This species is found in forests and the edges of mangrove swamps. The nest is a shallow cup of roots, bark and grass built in a tree. The typical clutch is two cream-coloured eggs marked with rufous and lavender.

The adult forest elaenia is 12.7 cm long and weighs 12.2g. The head has a blackish crown with a partly concealed white or pale yellow central stripe, a weak whitish supercilium and white eyering. The upperparts are olive-green, and the brown wings have yellow feather edging and two yellow wing bars. The throat is whitish and the breast is greenish-yellow shading to yellow on the belly. The long narrow bill is black above and pink-based below. Sexes are similar.

M. g. trinitatis, the subspecies endemic to Trinidad, is larger and has duller upper parts than mainland forms. Forest elaenias are seen alone or in pairs, perched inconspicuously or catching insects and spiders in higher levels of the foliage. They also frequently eat berries. They... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:24

French Guiana · 2024

© Tristan Guillebot de Nerville · XC1174408 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:05

Brazil · 2024

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC901505 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Recording0:07

Bolivia · 2020

© Jacob Wijpkema · XC603627 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
2 San Lorenzo Protected Forest 🇵🇦 Panama
~20%
3 Anavilhanas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
4 Chapada dos Guimarães National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
5 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
~20%
6 Brownsberg Nature Park 🇸🇷 Suriname
~20%
7 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
8 Amacayacu National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
9 Sierra de la Macarena National Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
10 Henri Pittier National Park 🇻🇪 Venezuela
~10%
11 Tayrona National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
12 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
~10%
13 Emas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
14 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
15 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
16 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
17 Yasuní National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
18 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
19 Amboró National Park 🇧🇴 Bolivia
<5%
20 Podocarpus National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Belém 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
2 Valencia 🇻🇪 Venezuela
<5%
3 Caracas 🇻🇪 Venezuela
<5%
4 Panama City 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Forest Elaenia in Tambopata National Reserve?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Forest Elaenia sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 527 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 65th most-seen of the 550 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.

When is the best time to see a Forest Elaenia in Tambopata National Reserve?

July

In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Forest Elaenia in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in March and September–December, the lowest months. That is one of Tambopata National Reserve's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain against 420 mm in February.

What time of day is best to see a Forest Elaenia?

Between 10 pm and 1 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Forest Elaenia sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.

Which relatives of the Forest Elaenia live in Tambopata National Reserve?

Same family: Tyrannidae

The closest relatives of the Forest Elaenia that you can see in Tambopata National Reserve (family Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers) are Tropical Kingbird (about 20%), Boat-billed Flycatcher (about 20%) and Bright-rumped Attila (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Forest Elaenia sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Forest Elaenia is recorded against all the birds logged in Tambopata National Reserve (527 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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