Rhynchocyclus brevirostris
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
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 →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Eye-ringed Flatbill sighting in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, based on 175 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 267th most-seen of the 467 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eye-ringed Flatbill in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to August, the lowest months. Those are among Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park's wettest months, with about 530 mm of rain a month against 160 mm in February.
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.
17th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Eye-ringed Flatbill sightings, Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park ranks 17th at under 5%. 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 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (family Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers) are Mountain Elaenia (about 30%), Black-capped Flycatcher (about 30%) and Guatemalan Paltry Tyrannulet (about 30%), 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 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (175 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.
