Empidonax atriceps
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The black-capped flycatcher (Empidonax atriceps) is a very small passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. The black-capped flycatcher is monotypic. The black-capped flycatcher is 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) long and weighs about 9 g (0.32 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a black crown with a short crest and a bold white eye-ring that is wider behind the eye on an otherwise brownish olive face. These features by themselves set it apart from all other Empidonax. Their nape and upperparts are also brownish olive. Their tail is dusky with white outer webs on the outer feathers. Their wings are dusky with pale brown edges on the secondaries and tertials. The wing coverts are dusky with pale brown tips that show as two wing bars. Their throat is white and their breast and belly pale buffish cinnamon. They have a dark iris, a black maxilla, an orange-yellow mandible with a dark tip, and blackish legs and feet. Juveniles have a slightly duller black cap than adults with browner upperparts, buffy edges and tips on the wing feathers, and a paler belly. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irazú Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Poás Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Flycatcher sighting in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, based on 3,362 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 467 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to February
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Flycatcher in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May, August and October, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-capped 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.
3rd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Black-capped Flycatcher sightings, Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Irazú Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%) and Los Quetzales National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%).
Same genus: Empidonax
The closest relatives of the Black-capped Flycatcher that you can see in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (genus Empidonax, Empidonax Flycatchers) are Yellowish Flycatcher (about 10%) and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-capped Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (3,362 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.
