Ramphocaenus melanurus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The trilling gnatwren (Ramphocaenus melanurus), formerly long-billed gnatwren, is a very small bird in the gnatcatcher family. It found from southeast Mexico south to Ecuador and Amazonia. The trilling gnatwren was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819 from a specimen collected in Brazil. He coined the binomial name Ramphocaenus melanurus. The genus name Ramphocaenus means "unusual beak", from the Ancient Greek rhamphos (ῥάµϕος, "beak") and cænos (καινός, "strange"). The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek melas "black" and oura "tail". A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that two subspecies of Ramphocaenus melanurus formed a separate clade. The subspecies were split off to become the chattering gnatwren and the English name of this species was changed from "long-billed gnatwren" to "trilling gnatwren".
Thirteen subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 3 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 6 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Gnatwren sighting in Tortuguero National Park on a given day, based on 53 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 209th most-seen of the 348 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Long-billed Gnatwren in Tortuguero National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-billed Gnatwren sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
41st of 54
Of the 54 parks where we can rate Long-billed Gnatwren sightings, Tortuguero National Park ranks 41st at under 5%. The best odds are in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 40%), Pico Bonito National Park (Honduras, about 30%) and Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-billed Gnatwren is recorded against all the birds logged in Tortuguero National Park (53 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.
