Junco vulcani
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The volcano junco (Junco vulcani) is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. The volcano junco was formally described in 1878 with the binomial Zonotrichia vulcani. It was eventually reassigned to its present genus Junco that had been erected in 1831.
The volcano junco is monotypic. Though a 1970 publication considered it, the dark-eyed junco (J. hyemalis), and the yellow-eyed junco (J. phaenotus) to be sister species, evaluations in the early 2000s showed that it is basal to the genus and not closely related to the other Junco species.
The volcano junco is about 16 cm (6.3 in) long and weighs about 28 g (0.99 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a grayish olive crown and nape, sometimes with dusky streaks. They have black lores and a black or slate black "mask" around the eye. The rest of their head and neck are pale gray with an olive tinge on the ear coverts. Their upperparts are buffy brown with black streaks. Their wings are dusky with thin to somewhat wider buffy brown feather edges. Their tail is dusky with thin gray feather edges and pale gray tips... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irazú Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Los Quetzales National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Volcano Junco sighting in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, based on 1,839 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 55th most-seen of the 467 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.
January–April and July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Volcano Junco in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May–June and August–December, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Volcano Junco sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Volcano Junco sightings, Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Irazú Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%).
Same family: Passerellidae
The closest relatives of the Volcano Junco that you can see in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (family Passerellidae, New World Sparrows) are Rufous-collared Sparrow (about 60%), Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager (about 50%) and Large-footed Finch (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Volcano Junco is recorded against all the birds logged in Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park (1,839 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.
