Chlorospingus pileatus
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The sooty-capped chlorospingus (Chlorospingus pileatus) or sooty-capped bush tanager, is a small passerine bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. The sooty-capped chlorospingus was formally described in 1865 with its current binomial Chlorospingus pileatus. At the time the Chlorospingus species were members of the family Thraupidae, the "true" tanagers, though their positions within the family were uncertain. Based on studies published in 2002, 2003, and 2007, beginning in 2010 taxonomic systems transferred Chlorospingus to its present sparrow family. The Chlorospingus species were originally called "bush tanagers" or "bush-tanagers". Beginning in 2013 systems began changing the English name of the members of the genus to "chlorospingus" because they were no longer considered tanagers.
The sooty-capped chlorospingus' further taxonomy is unresolved. The IOC, AviList, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treat it as monotypic. In addition to the systems that do not... 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 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager sighting in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, based on 7,093 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 467 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–March and July
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, against about 30% in October, the lowest month.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager 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 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager sightings, Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park ranks 3rd at about 50%. The best odds are in Irazú Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 80%) and Los Quetzales National Park (Costa Rica, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Chlorospingus
The closest relatives of the Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager that you can see in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (genus Chlorospingus, Bush-Tanagers) are Common Chlorospingus (about 20%) and Ashy-throated Bush-Tanager (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager is recorded against all the birds logged in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (7,093 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.
