Accipiter superciliosus
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The tiny hawk (Microspizias superciliosus) is a small diurnal bird of prey found primarily around humid forests of the Neotropics. It is primarily a bird-eater, and is known to prey on hummingbirds. The tiny hawk was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Falco superciliosus. Linnaeus specified the locality as Suriname. The specific epithet superciliosus is Latin meaning "eye-browed".
There are two subspecies separated by the northern Andes. The two differ most significantly in relative tail length; differences in size and color are small, and can be hard to distinguish. Microspizias superciliosus fontanieri (Bonaparte, 1853) – is found from Nicaragua south to western Ecuador. It is somewhat smaller and darker than the nominate M. s. superciliosus, with a shorter tail and sharper, blacker barring below.
Microspizias superciliosus superciliosus (Linnaeus, 1766) – is found east of the Andes in South America. Slightly larger than fontanieri, it is paler and has diffuse, grayish barring on the underparts. The tiny hawk and its sister species, the upland-dwelling semicollared... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brownsberg Nature Park | 🇸🇷 Suriname | |
| 2 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 6 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 7 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 8 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 14 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoológico do CIGS | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Tiny Hawk sighting in Tortuguero National Park on a given day, based on 18 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 303rd most-seen of the 348 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Tiny Hawk in Tortuguero National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tiny Hawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Tiny Hawk sightings, Tortuguero National Park ranks 10th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Brownsberg Nature Park (Suriname, under 5%), Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica, under 5%) and Soberanía National Park (Panama, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tiny Hawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Tortuguero National Park (18 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.
