Cacicus uropygialis
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In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The scarlet-rumped cacique (Cacicus uropygialis) is a passerine bird species in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. This species has sometimes been split into two species: the scarlet-rumped cacique (Cacicus microrhynchus) and the subtropical cacique (Cacicus uropygialis).
The scarlet-rumped cacique was formally described in 1843 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye based on a specimen collected in Colombia. He coined the binomial name Cassicus uropygialis where the specific epithet is from Medieval Latin uropygium meaning "rump". The scarlet-rumped cacique is now one of ten species placed in the genus Cacicus that was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède.
Three subspecies are recognised: Cacicus uropygialis microrhynchus (Sclater, PL & Salvin, O, 1865) – far northeastern Honduras to eastern Panama (except Darién Province) Cacicus uropygialis pacificus Chapman, FM, 1915 – eastern Panama (Darién Province) to western Colombia and western Ecuador (El Oro)
Cacicus uropygialis uropygialis Lafresnaye, 1843 – Andes of Colombia to northwestern Venezuela, eastern Ecuador, and southeastern Peru Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Scarlet-rumped Cacique sighting in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, based on 459 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 180th most-seen of the 467 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Scarlet-rumped Cacique in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July, September and November–May, the lowest months. That is one of Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park's wettest months, with about 570 mm of rain against 160 mm in February.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scarlet-rumped Cacique sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
15th of 22
Of the 22 parks where we can rate Scarlet-rumped Cacique sightings, Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park ranks 15th at under 5%. The best odds are in Soberanía National Park (Panama, about 40%), Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%) and Utría National Natural Park (Colombia, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the Scarlet-rumped Cacique that you can see in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Montezuma Oropendola (about 20%), Baltimore Oriole (about 10%) and Melodious Blackbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scarlet-rumped Cacique is recorded against all the birds logged in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (459 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.
